Across the portfolio
Value Creation for Private Equity
Private equity returns are increasingly driven by operational efficiency, not leverage.
Gainmaker delivers Operational Efficiency Improvement (OEI) programmes that translate directly into EBITDA growth, margin expansion and premium exit multiples — with outsourced-yet-in-house expertise that scales with your portfolio.
Section 1
Where Returns Come From
Three drivers — and the one you can engineer
Driver 01
Leverage
Borrowed funds amplify returns — but also increase financial risk.
Driver 02
Multiple Expansion
The increase in a company’s valuation multiple between acquisition and exit.
Driver 03 · our focus
Operational Efficiency
Optimising operations to reduce cost, increase productivity and lift performance — through better processes, better use of resources and better technology.
Contribution Thinking, at Portfolio Scale
From “what happened?” to “what creates value?”
- Hidden value leakage
- Misdirected improvement effort
- Reliance on intuition and spreadsheets
- Pricing discipline
- Inventory and working capital
- Sales force productivity
- Procurement effectiveness
- EBITDA growth
- Margin expansion
- Cash generation
- Valuation multiple at exit
Section 2
Our Value Creation Levers
Six levers, deployed as a custom OEI plan
Lever 01
Value Creation Strategy
Pinpoint portfolio-wide growth levers and deploy custom OEI plans that accelerate value realisation.
Lever 02
Organic Revenue Growth
Identify untapped markets, optimise sales performance and accelerate share gain.
Lever 03
Inorganic Revenue Growth
Evaluate adjacent products, markets and capabilities to uncover high-impact acquisition or partnership opportunities.
Lever 04
Digital Transformation
Embed automation, analytics and digital tools — starting with the Microsoft 365 the business already owns.
Lever 05
Process Improvement
Redesign workflows, eliminate inefficiencies and drive measurable cost reductions that lift EBITDA.
Lever 06
Organisational Design
Align structure, talent and accountability with strategic goals.
Section 3
The Gainmaker OEI Framework
Structured assessment, strategic planning, targeted execution
Seven stages take a portfolio company from a clear view of its value drivers to measured, banked benefit — and back round again across the portfolio.
- Value Driver AssessmentFind the Gainmakers that move enterprise value.
- Capability Gap AssessmentWhere the organisation can and can’t deliver today.
- Value Creation StrategyThe levers to pull, and in which order.
- OEI Project PlanningProjects scoped, sized and sequenced.
- OEI Project ExecutionDelivered alongside management.
- Benefits RealisationEvery rand measured and banked.
- Portfolio Value AssessmentPerformance compared across the portfolio.
Section 4
Aligned Incentives, Shared Success
Outsourced-yet-in-house expertise, without fixed overhead
We work inside portfolio companies as part of the management team, not as visiting advisers.
Draw on the specialists each company needs, when it needs them.
Pay only for the expertise you need — no added fixed overhead.
Measured by the impact on EBITDA.
How We Work
Fees that rise and fall with the value created
Component
Base Retainer
Continuous partnership support across the portfolio.
Component
Performance Share
Tied to measurable EBITDA improvement.
Component
Exit Success Fee
Rewarded on realised results at exit.
Component
Milestone Incentives
Linked to KPI achievement, for delivery discipline.
Structures are agreed per fund and per portfolio company.
Section 5
Built for Private Equity
OEI excellence, innovation capability, scalable delivery
Gainmaker is the synthesis of more than twenty years of operational excellence, Lean Six Sigma, industrial engineering, enterprise architecture and front-end innovation practice — consolidated into one firm built to unlock operational alpha.
Maximised portfolio value
True risk–reward alignment
Premium exits
Unlock Operational Alpha
Start with a value driver assessment on one portfolio company, and see where the EBITDA is hiding.