Exit Readiness
Technology that survives a buy-side audit.
Working with founders in the 18 to 24 months before an exit so technology reads as an asset in diligence rather than a risk a buyer discounts for.
Buyers do not read your technology strategy. They test it. Systems, data, security, people and the story that ties them together all get examined by people whose job is to find the problem.
I have sat inside that process. At a PE-backed pharmaceutical logistics business I was the sole technology counterpart to the buy-side due diligence auditors, through a premium exit. The business was recognised as one of Europe's fastest-growing companies. The acquirer then retained me to own the integration programme.
That is operator experience. I was the person under scrutiny, not the advisor across the table, and it changes how I prepare a business for the room.
What it covers
- An honest read of the technology estate against what a buyer will probe
- Data and finance system integrity, including transactional flows and reconciliation
- Security posture, with evidence a buyer can verify
- Vendor and cost rationalisation that lifts margin before the deal rather than after
- A technology narrative for the data room that matches what the systems actually do
- Standing in as the named technology counterpart when the auditors arrive
Technology as a value creation lever
Every PE value creation plan comes down to growing revenue, protecting margin and defending the multiple at exit. Technology sits under all of it, and it is usually the lever nobody on the deal team can pull.
- Cost to serve falls when the estate is rationalised. The £100K saving below came from one platform decision.
- Systems that scale without matching headcount protect margin as revenue grows.
- At exit, due diligence finds either an asset or a discount.
Evidence
£100K a year off the cost to serve. Replacing a third-party platform was run as a pre-exit gross margin initiative. Buyers price margin, so a recurring saving is worth a multiple of itself at exit.
A clean, auditable platform. After the acquisition I owned ERP and finance system integration across the combined entity, covering transactional data flows, financial reconciliation pipelines and payment-adjacent infrastructure. The result was a clean, auditable platform for future M&A integration.
In their words
Gwyn joined [us] to lead our Digital Transformation strategy. … Gwyn not only developed a great team but executed his plan over a 4 year window which has a lasting and positive impact to our business.
Fit
Best for PE-backed businesses ahead of, or during, due diligence, and for founder-led businesses approaching a liquidity event. Usually delivered as a fractional engagement. Converts to interim where the business needs full-time cover through the deal.
Start with the problem, not a job title.
Tell me what is happening, what is coming and what nobody in the business can currently answer.