Portfolio leadership, at the speed of the plan.
A value-creation plan is only as good as the operator delivering it. The gap usually shows once the plan is signed off and the person who must deliver it has not yet arrived.
Where a Nordic hold loses months
The pattern is familiar in Nordic portfolios:
The opening months go on a search
A permanent executive search runs a quarter or longer, by which time the plan is already under way.
The founder reports, the sponsor wants a pack
A founder-run company reports in its own way, and the sponsor wants a monthly pack straight away.
Founder and sponsor see two different businesses
Both are right about something, and without an operator between them the gap becomes friction.
A project-length gap
When a company is integrating an acquisition, changing its core systems or carving out a unit, it needs a senior operator for the length of that project and no longer.
Operators are in portfolio companies within weeks, engaged under a services agreement that follows the length of your hold. A sponsor can use one for a defined workstream, as cover until a permanent appointment lands, or to find out what the company truly needs before a hire is made.
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 support a Nordic portfolio
A hold has milestones. We keep governance around the operator so they are met.
Reviews on the hold's milestones
We check progress with the sponsor and the operator at agreed points and adjust the brief with you if it slips.
Peers for integration problems
Your operator can talk an integration or carve-out problem through with peers in the collective before committing.
Continuity through the hold
If the operator has to leave, a new search starts from our notes on the asset and we manage the transition.
Matched to founder-run companies
Nordic portfolio companies often still have their founder involved. We look for an operator who can work with that.
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
Start the search within days of instruction and have the right operator embedded within weeks. 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.
Our operating partners have worked at
