Accelerating Performance

CHAPTER 3A Learning Laboratory

Private equity firms can function as learning labs for all of us because they work on whole portfolios of companies, not just one at a time. They test and learn, and test and learn, and test and learn. They have huge incentives not only to deliver returns but also to do so quickly. So in a world where acceleration is key, they offer even more valuable insights than they have historically.

We’ve had the pleasure of working with Bain Capital Private Equity in Europe, in particular with one of its global investment leaders, Dwight Poler, and with Stuart Gent, who heads the firm’s portfolio operations, so we’re going to describe in some detail in this chapter how three of its companies have accelerated. Bain Capital has been focused on transforming companies for more than 32 years and has developed a clear approach to do this. The principals at Bain Capital are careful to note that the success of their companies is led and driven by their management teams. They look to find companies at an inflection point and partner with great CEOs and management teams who then drive change and deliver the results. They also work with other private equity firms as coinvestors and see those firms as key, active partners.

Poler says Bain Capital’s global investing strategy focuses on “driving a transformation in results—how we can achieve a discontinuous improvement in performance. We will look at areas like how to accelerate growth, drive margin expansion, expand ...