Origination beyond the obvious
We work hard to build up trusted relationships with Chief Executives and Chairmen, often long before a company is put up for sale.
We are never too busy to meet management teams. By getting to know them well, we gain an invaluable inside track, learning about them, their companies, their markets, their problems and their ambitions.
The best CEOs will also invest time in choosing the right Private Equity partner well ahead of a sale process. They will check out Duke Street as thoroughly as we check them out. We welcome that – our CEOs are also an important point of reference for us.
From our point of view, this approach is a highly effective form of risk management. It allows us to develop industry insight, draw up our own investment priorities and, when it comes to making investments, to avoid formal auctions time and time again.
By the time we make an offer for a company, we are generally very well informed about its performance, culture, issues and strengths. We can then move quickly to settle on and announce a strategic plan for the company.
In sourcing investments, we look beyond the obvious. We have a real appetite for complex deals and will invest in the sort of company that many investors shy away from, provided it has underlying growth potential. Our strength lies in rapidly accelerating the growth of companies by transforming their operating performance and by supporting ambitious management teams.
We will look at a range of deals including:
- Under performance / under management
- Sectors which are out of favour for a period of time
- Conglomerates in need of more focus
- Parent company distress
- Public to private