A sponsor and a founder need an operator in between.
When a sponsor backs a French mid-sized company, the founder often stays on and the plan assumes capabilities the company has not built. The operator who bridges the two is the one the plan depends on.
Where the first hundred days go
Sponsors backing French mid-market companies tend to meet the same obstacles:
The first months go on searching
A permanent search consumes the first stretch of the holding period, just when the plan needs momentum.
Reporting falls short of what the sponsor needs
An owner-led company reports as it always has, while the sponsor and its lenders both ask for a higher standard at once.
The founder and the sponsor each see a different company
Each is right about part of it, and with no operator between them the difference becomes friction.
Changing the team takes longer than the plan allows
Replacing a senior manager in France is slow and costly, so team changes arrive later than the model assumed.
Our operators join portfolio companies within weeks, on a services agreement that follows the holding period. Sponsors engage us to run a set workstream, to cover until a permanent hire arrives, or to establish what the company needs before it recruits.
Who this is for, and who it is not
Best for
- Deploying a senior operator inside a portfolio company
- Executing a 100-day plan the moment the deal closes
- Value creation through the hold, not another advisory report
- Building reporting, systems and management credibility before an exit
- Operational diligence and leadership-gap assessment before you buy
Not for
- A strategy deck or set of recommendations to hand back
- A business that wants an adviser, not an operator inside it
- Pure diligence with no operator deployed afterwards
- A mandate for oversight rather than hands-on execution
How we work with sponsors
Sponsors get speed after completion and a person matched to the value creation plan, not to whoever is free.
Matched to the plan
We read the value creation plan with you and look for the operator who has delivered that kind of plan.
More than one operator to call on
A sponsor with several assets can draw on the same collective for each of them.
Continuity through the holding period
We hold the brief and the governance for the whole holding period, so a change of person does not mean starting again.
Comfortable between sponsor and founder
The operator has to report in the sponsor's language and lead in the company's. We match for both.
Across the PE investment lifecycle
From pre-deal to exit preparation.
Pre-deal: operational due diligence
Embed a Fractional COO or CFO to support your ODD. They identify gaps your model hasn't priced.
Post-acquisition: fill the leadership gaps
Begin deploying the right operator within days of instruction. No recruitment pipeline, notice periods, or trial risk.
Value creation: operational improvement
Build financial infrastructure, operating cadences, commercial engines, and professional people structures.
Exit preparation: build credibility
A Fractional CFO producing clean board reporting and investor-grade financials is a meaningful credibility signal in any sale process.
The value-creation matrix
Each value-creation lever maps to the operator built to own it. Most plans pull two or three at once.
Portfolio company leadership options
Match the right fractional operator to the specific portfolio company need.
Operating partners to
