When a private equity firm acquires a company, the investment thesis usually assumes a leadership team that can execute it. Often that team doesn't fully exist yet. The founder may be stepping back, key functions may have been run by one generalist, and the growth plan calls for capabilities the business has never needed before.
In February 2024, a Canadian industrial technology distributor came to our founder, Alexander Giannone, in exactly that position. Newly PE-backed following a strategic acquisition, it had a thin leadership bench and a mandate for organic growth, regional expansion and acquisition readiness. Over the following 28 months we made 19 placements across five cities and seven disciplines. Seventeen of those leaders are still in role two or more years later.
Here is what that engagement taught us about sequencing a post-acquisition leadership build.
Start with the seats closest to revenue
The value creation plan lives or dies on revenue. We opened by filling the two most critical commercial seats, VP of Sales and Director of Marketing, at the same time and within the first quarter. Getting the revenue leaders in first meant the rest of the build could be shaped around the commercial plan.
Build operations in the order the business will feel the gap
Once commercial leadership was in place, the next pressure point was execution: branch managers, technical specialists and department leads across Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal and Edmonton. Functional depth in finance, HR, supply chain and systems came after that. Trying to hire everything at once spreads attention thin and leaves the most urgent seats open longer.
Use one search partner, not five
Running searches through several agencies at once feels like it should be faster. In practice it creates duplicate outreach, inconsistent messages to the market and no single view of the hiring plan. In this engagement we were the company's single point of contact for every active search. That meant one consistent story to candidates, and candidate pipelines in each market that carried over from one search to the next instead of starting from zero.
Screen for the next three years, not the last three
A portfolio company two years after acquisition is a different business from the one that was bought. Leaders need to fit where the company is going, not only where it has been. Our screening looks beyond qualifications at cultural alignment, management style and long-term trajectory. That is the main reason retention held at 89% over two years, and why all 19 offers were accepted.
Plan for the hires that don't work out
Even with careful screening, not every hire lasts. The two departures in this engagement were identified, re-sourced and backfilled at no additional search cost to the client. Knowing that safety net exists lets a management team move quickly without betting the quarter on a single hire.
The takeaway for operating partners
If you are about to close on a platform or an add-on, the leadership plan deserves the same rigour as the financial model. Map the critical seats, sequence them around the value creation plan, and line up search capacity before day one rather than after the first quarter's numbers disappoint.
We offer a no-commitment portfolio talent audit for new PE relationships: one hour, your five most critical roles, and a clear view of what the market looks like for each. Contact Alexander Giannone at alexander.giannone@huntersheppard.com or (416) 920-8765, or read the full case study.
