Private equity software advisory that standardises diligence across deals, cuts duplicate spend across the portfolio, and makes each company exit ready.
Our private equity software advisory works at the fund level, not just the deal level. We standardise software diligence so every acquisition is assessed the same way, we find duplicate and stranded spend across the portfolio, and we clean up the licensing position so each company is defensible at audit and clean at exit. The result is lower run rate during the hold and a higher, less contestable valuation when you sell.
Funds repeat the same software mistakes across deals because each one is assessed in isolation. A standard diligence framework fixes that. We define what to measure, which publishers to prioritise, and how to quantify exposure, so the investment committee compares deals on the same basis and no acquisition carries an unmeasured audit liability into the portfolio. Inherited licensing exposure is usually latent and unquantified in standard due diligence, and it lands as a publisher audit after close. A repeatable framework catches it before it compounds across the book.
Across the hold period, the portfolio view pays off. Companies bought separately often run duplicate agreements with the same publishers, pay different rates for the same product, and carry stranded capacity from earlier restructuring. We map the combined position and use it to consolidate spend and strengthen negotiating leverage at renewal. At exit, a clean and defensible licensing position removes a line of buyer side diligence questions that would otherwise chip at price.
We operate at three levels. At the deal level we run software due diligence to the fund standard. At the portfolio level we benchmark spend and consolidate where it serves the fund. At the exit level we make each company audit ready and clean, so a buyer side advisor finds nothing to reprice against. Because we are independent and paid only by the fund, the consolidation and renewal moves we recommend serve your returns, not a reseller margin.
| Lifecycle stage | What we deliver | Value to the fund |
|---|---|---|
| Acquisition | Standardised diligence framework | Comparable, audit aware deal assessment |
| Hold | Portfolio spend benchmarking | Lower combined run rate |
| Add on | Reconciliation across bolt ons | No duplicate or stranded spend |
| Exit | Clean, defensible position | Fewer buyer side repricing levers |
When each acquisition is assessed in isolation, a fund repeats the same software mistakes across the book. One deal team measures Oracle exposure carefully and another skips it. One company trues up to list price under audit pressure while a sister company two floors away has already negotiated the same product down. The cost of this fragmentation compounds quietly across the hold period. A fund level approach fixes it by setting one standard for how software is assessed at acquisition, benchmarked during the hold, and cleaned up before exit, so the portfolio behaves as a single informed buyer rather than a dozen separate ones.
Inherited software licensing exposure is usually latent and unquantified in standard due diligence, and it lands as a publisher audit after close. Across a portfolio, an unmeasured liability in one company is a liability for the fund. A repeatable diligence framework catches that exposure at the point of acquisition, before it enters the book and before it can compound into a claim that surfaces years later when the company is being readied for sale.
Companies bought separately almost always overpay together. They run duplicate agreements with the same publishers, hold different rates for the same product, and carry stranded capacity from earlier restructurings. Seen one at a time, none of this is visible. Seen across the portfolio, it is an obvious target. We benchmark spend across the holdings, identify where the same publisher is being paid several times over, and use the combined volume to strengthen leverage at renewal. The savings are real reductions in run rate, achieved without cutting capability, and because we are paid only by the fund the moves we recommend serve your returns rather than a reseller channel.
At exit, a buyer side advisor will look for exactly the exposure we help you map. A clean, defensible licensing position removes a whole line of diligence questions and takes away the levers a buyer would otherwise use to chip at price or widen the escrow. Preparing this well before the process starts, rather than scrambling during it, is what protects the valuation. We provide commercial and licensing advisory, not legal advice, and we recommend your own counsel for the interpretation of any agreement term across the portfolio.
See the method in our private equity portfolio software guide pillar, and how it plays out in practice: diligence standardised across 12 deals, a portfolio company made exit ready, combined software spend cut 22 percent. Or review the full range of services.
We standardise diligence and cut spend across the fund. Tell us about the portfolio and we respond within one business day.
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