Private Equity Value Creation
Former McKinsey and BCG consultants who do the work. Not just the deck.
We partner with mid-market PE funds and operating partners to drive measurable EBITDA improvement across the full hold cycle. Our senior team embeds directly inside portfolio companies, runs procurement programs, and manages vendor negotiations without burdening the company's team. The leave-behind is value flowing to the bottom line.
Schedule a ConversationCore Procurement Value Creation Levers
PE value creation through procurement is a structured set of interventions applied across the hold cycle. These are the levers Inside Consulting executes for PE-backed portfolio companies.
Mid-market companies rarely have dedicated procurement staff, so vendor pricing goes unchallenged for years. We apply competitive sourcing and leverage-based negotiation across SG&A, IT, facilities, and indirect categories to recover 20 to 25 percent of addressable outside spend without disrupting operations.
Savings are contracted and verified before the engagement closes. Not projected. Not estimated. Realized.
The 100-day window sets the tone for the entire value creation program. We run category-level diagnostics, build the spend baseline, and begin executing negotiations while the integration is still in motion.
The goal is to generate early EBITDA wins in the highest-impact categories and establish the procurement governance structure that sustains savings across the full hold period.
Zero-based budgeting applied to outside spend categories establishes a clean cost baseline and eliminates budget drift before exit. Each category is justified from the ground up rather than anchored to prior-year actuals.
ZBB consistently surfaces 10 to 15 percent in additional savings beyond what vendor negotiation captures on its own, and creates the documented cost structure buyers expect in diligence.
PMI sourcing synergies are systematically underestimated at deal close. We consolidate vendor relationships, rationalize the supply base, and apply combined-entity leverage to existing contracts across add-on acquisitions.
Savings targets are built from actual spend data across both entities, not estimated from benchmark multiples. The Ntirety engagement delivered $4.3M in sourcing synergies — three times the pre-merger estimate.
Inside Consulting is industry and category agnostic. We have sourced over 100 categories across technology, healthcare, industrials, and business services — from SG&A, IT, and professional services to direct materials, logistics, facilities, and benefits.
Most PE-backed companies have never had a dedicated procurement function. That means every spend category is an opportunity, and we bring the same structured sourcing methodology to each one regardless of industry vertical.
In the final 12 months of the hold period, we clean and document the cost structure to support a compelling EBITDA narrative at exit. Savings are contracted, verified, and attributable — not projected in a spreadsheet.
Buyers scrutinize cost bases in diligence. The story needs to hold up under examination and translate directly into valuation. We have helped clients return to profitability ahead of a successful sale.
The Opportunity
Most portfolio companies are leaving procurement value on the table.
Mid-market platforms rarely have a dedicated procurement function. Outside spend representing 15 to 30 percent of revenue gets managed reactively by department heads who have neither the time nor the leverage to negotiate effectively.
No Procurement Function
SG&A and indirect spend categories are managed by department heads focused on operations, not cost optimization. Vendor relationships drift, contracts auto-renew, and pricing goes unchallenged for years.
Real, Accessible Savings
Savings of 20 to 25 percent on addressable spend are consistently achievable. For a $150M platform, that is often $3 to $6M in annual EBITDA improvement without headcount reduction and without disrupting operations.
Bandwidth Is the Constraint
Operating partners know the opportunity exists. Executing on it without pulling the portfolio company's management team off their core priorities is exactly the problem we are built to solve.
Why Inside Consulting
Built for PE. Not adapted for it.
There is no shortage of consultants who will assess your portfolio company and produce a findings report. We are not that firm.
McKinsey and BCG Pedigree. Mid-Market Focus.
Our partners trained at McKinsey and BCG. We apply that rigor to mid-market companies that do not have the internal horsepower to run these programs, at a fraction of the cost of a big-firm engagement.
Senior Team. Hands-On Execution.
We embed as an internal procurement function. Your portfolio company's management team stays focused on the business while we run vendor negotiations, manage the sourcing process, and track every dollar of savings to close. No handoffs to junior staff.
Dollars, Not Decks.
We do not produce a findings report and hand it off. We stay until the savings are contracted, verified, and flowing. Our success is measured the same way yours is: by what actually lands on the P&L.
Fees Structured at Risk.
Our fee structure is tied to delivered results. We offer at-risk, hybrid, and fixed-fee arrangements. We are willing to put meaningful fees at risk because we are confident in the outcome.
PE Fluent.
We speak the language of private equity: EBITDA improvement, MOIC, value creation plans, and 100-day priorities. Our procurement engagements are designed to appear on a board deck and survive due diligence.
No Software. No Platform.
We do not sell a procurement platform or spend analytics tool alongside our services. Our only product is savings. No conflicted recommendations and no technology implementation dragging out the timeline.
Client Results
What we deliver for PE-backed platforms.
A sample of our work across PE-backed companies, spanning healthcare, technology, and industrials.
Healthcare · Outside Spend · ZBB
$6M+ annual EBIT
4-year partnership spanning strategic sourcing, zero-based budgeting, and SaaS net revenue retention for a PE-backed healthcare technology platform.
View Case Study →
Technology · Outside Spend · Revenue
$11M+ annual EBITDA
$5M labor savings, $2.7M vendor reduction, and $4M ARR improvement via revenue leakage elimination and pricing optimization.
View Case Study →
Technology · PMI · Outside Spend
$4.3M sourcing synergies
3x the pre-merger estimate. Creative application of leverage well beyond scale alone, realized across a complex post-merger integration.
View Case Study →
Healthcare · Outside Spend
$2.7M vendor spend reduction
Reduction in call center costs ($1.9M) and commercial printing costs ($800K) at a PE-backed healthcare engagement platform.
View Case Study →
Basic Materials · Turnaround
$12M annual cash flow improvement
Returned to profitability in under 18 months and supported a successful sale to a strategic buyer.
View Case Study →PE Funds We Have Worked Alongside
We have worked alongside leading mid-market PE funds since 2005.
Further Reading
For PE operating partners.
Common questions from PE operating partners.
PE value creation consulting is not a technology implementation, a spend analytics dashboard, or a consultant report with recommendations your team has to execute. It is the process of replacing fragmented, site-level supplier relationships with a structured, leverage-based supply strategy built on cost analysis, competitive sourcing, and governance that holds.
Most engagements start with a single conversation.
We can scope a diagnostic or a full program and structure fees to align with your hold period and return targets. No junior teams. No handoffs. You will speak with a partner from the first call.
Talk to a Partner See Our Full Approach