Charting a course to new value
How a $4 billion public company transformed to seize key opportunities and drive enterprise value
Client
Global services firm
Industry
Professional services
Primary Goal
Transformation
The client is a global, multibillion-dollar professional services firm with a long and storied history. It serves the needs of both small businesses and the largest Fortune 500 companies. Through its multiple divisions, the company often plays a critical role in high-growth industries, such as technology, science, and engineering.
Several years ago, the company began a pivot to deep specialization, seeing it as an avenue to deliver tremendous value for customers and shareholders alike. Recognizing the benefit of bringing in an experienced transformation adviser, the company engaged 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 to help elevate and accelerate the transformation.
KEY OUTCOMES
Making a measurable difference
- Profits increased 85 percent.
- EBITDA increased >$100 million in six months.
- Organic growth unlocked through improved go-to-market strategies.
- Inorganic growth delivered through acquisitions, including largest in company history.
- Business and project portfolios streamlined, including non-core asset divestitures.
- Share price increased 54 percent in one year, well above market and peers.
Client transformation journey
Click on each part of the journey to learn more about our client鈥檚 transformation.
To truly transform a company, you need to transform people, processes, and technology. That鈥檚 why a major transformation is usually enabled by numerous smaller ones that span the organizational structure, go-to-market activities, technology systems, and the people and processes that enable the business. By helping to align business and operating models with strategic priorities, and providing deep experience and capabilities at every turn, we enable our client to make better decisions as they evolve their business.
Sagi Abiri
Principal, Advisory, 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 US
乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 helped drive transformation with extensive industry experience, deep data analytics, and a detailed strategic business and operating model review
A transformation takes place in a series of steps. Data must be gathered and analyzed to establish facts. Senior leadership must align behind a new strategic vision. A detailed program must be designed, and all its ramifications accounted for. A transformation team, combining multiple skill sets, is needed to drive the effort. A workforce must be educated; new metrics established; and in the case of a global organization, transformation requires a firm with a global network and local knowledge to design and execute a strategy that maximizes stakeholder benefits.
Establishing the facts: Aligning the executive team
Any transformation begins with a detailed, data-driven assessment of a company鈥檚 current state: its income, expenditures, workforce, capital position, customer base, competitive and regulatory environment, etc. 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 combs this baseline information using sophisticated, AI-assisted software and proprietary programs to highlight opportunities for increased efficiency and to identify new avenues for growth.
At the project鈥檚 outset, however, our client lacked the data it needed. While the company had tens of thousands of cost centers, they were not integrated into a centralized data repository enabling precise decision-making. 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 was able to help the company tie its complex platforms together; gather more data than was previously possible and analyze it to produce new insights and a detailed view of the client鈥檚 situation. Ultimately, very clear and detailed financial and organizational baselines were developed to assess and measure change.
This data supported the development of a fact-based, quantitative transformation strategy that would position the company for market-leading growth over time. To align the executive team behind the plan, 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 held a series of strategic workshops with client leadership over six weeks.
The first workshop reviewed the current-state baseline with the company鈥檚 executives. 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 had consolidated and analyzed information from an enormous set of data and was able to show the executives exactly where they were losing value.
In the second session, 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 helped the company understand the potential opportunities found in the data. Despite having its diverse business units at the table, each with its own constituency, there was surprisingly little resistance to a new strategy. The data was inarguable: To increase revenue, build a higher-margin business and grow the stock price, significant changes were required. They would involve people, processes, systems, and the corporate culture.
The third and final workshop saw company executives and 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 structure an aggressive execution plan to fix the business鈥檚 fundamental profitability issues, restructure its business model, and align its portfolio with its objectives. With the executive team fully behind the plan, the transformation was launched.
Creating change: Designing and launching the transformation
With the plan approved in principle, 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 immediately began designing the transformation itself. The client鈥檚 strategic repositioning would disrupt its existing ways of working, the organizational structure, and the company culture itself.
乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 initially focused on cost optimization as the first source of value and to enable a transformation mindset. We conducted a labor optimization, going role by role to examine each on a granular level. We measured productivity, efficiency, and performance across multiple categories to find value. We established transformation controls, helping the company strengthen its processes around head count and spend, and eliminating potential sources of profit leakage. As profitability rose, the company gained a financial buffer to help fund its transformation and pursue new opportunities, including M&A.
Working with the client, 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 established a transformation office to manage the effort鈥檚 many moving parts. Approximately 150 individuals from strategy, deal advisory, management consulting, IT, tax and more were involved. 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 also standardized and systematized a metrics-based project and resource requisition and approval process. The 鈥渃ontrol tower鈥� we installed helped ensure that unnecessary costs could not creep back into operations and that the company can leverage its efficiencies going forward.聽
Accelerating growth: A portfolio of initiatives
乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 ultimately established more than 100 different projects to achieve the transformation. Each one was subject to a stage-gated approval process from opportunity identification through analysis, planning, and execution. The advanced technology 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 implemented was able to analyze data and deliver insights at deal speed.
Many of these initiatives have been completed; others are still underway. The changes have led to growth, both organic and inorganic. In spearheading the company鈥檚 geographic expansion, improving its go-to-market program, increasing salesforce effectiveness and similar initiatives, we have boosted organic, topline growth.
乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 is helping the company increase revenue inorganically as well. As it continues to gain share in its target categories, revenues rise; and the company is able to improve its holdings. 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 is assisting the company in its evaluation and selection of acquisition targets to better align its portfolio with its priorities.
We will continue to provide guidance across the range of our capabilities as we build a digitally forward future to power the company鈥檚 success.
Meet the team that made the difference for a $4+ billion company
If you are looking for ways to reinvigorate your growth and profitability, 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 can help. We have the knowledge, experience, skills, and tools to help you transform your business strategy, optimize your operations, and leverage digital innovations. Contact us today and let us show you how we can help you achieve your goals.
Adam Pollak
Partner, Global Head of Value Creation and U.S. Performance Transformation Leader, 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 US
Brian Sain
Principal, Advisory - Performance Transformation, 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 US
Sagi Abiri
Principal, Advisory, 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 US
Kevin Prevost
Managing Director, Strategy, 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 US
Anuj Saxena
Advisory Managing Director 鈥� Transaction Strategy, 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网
Greg Sward
Principal, Advisory, TMT Strategy, 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 US
Kristine Coogan
Principal, Advisory, Strategy, 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 US
Adam Pollak
Partner, Global Head of Value Creation and U.S. Performance Transformation Leader, 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 US
Brian Sain
Principal, Advisory - Performance Transformation, 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 US
Sagi Abiri
Principal, Advisory, 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 US
Kevin Prevost
Managing Director, Strategy, 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 US
Anuj Saxena
Advisory Managing Director 鈥� Transaction Strategy, 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网
Greg Sward
Principal, Advisory, TMT Strategy, 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 US
Kristine Coogan
Principal, Advisory, Strategy, 乐鱼（Leyu）体育官网 US
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