The First 100 Days: Setting the Strategy in Motion The 100-day plan should reflect an informed, forward-leaning investment thesis. Sponsors must enter with a clear sense of how to create inroads into new segments, test adjacent plays, and elevate long-term initiatives from “potential” to “demonstrated.” The goal is not to finalize every move in the first three months, but to lay the groundwork. The most successful holds are those where…
So what are the biggest factors currently affecting the auto recycling industry? Inflation is having a big impact on the market. As Delaney explained, inflation impacts the auto industry in the same way it does many other industries. The cost of labor, fuel and materials has continued to rise. In addition, he pointed out that the expected adoption of electric vehicles has slowed, but the continued use of Advanced Driver-Assistance…
In a recent article, we discussed the impact and implication of Generative AI (GenAI), focusing on the key takeaways for private equity and portfolio companies. The advent of GenAI marks a new era for businesses, particularly in the realm of marketing. Companies embracing AI are witnessing remarkable success in attracting, engaging, and retaining customers. As we delve into the impact of GenAI on marketing, the market size is projected to…
Sports management software in the U.S. is a ~$8-10B market expected to grow by double digits over the next five years. Broadly, the space can be divided into two segments: professional sports and non-professional/community sports. Both segments can be further split into performance, competition, and engagement; though the main customer groups would naturally vary (e.g., fan engagement vs. member engagement). While professional sports management software presents a viable opportunity, this…
Examples of Companies Using AI - Countless companies within the fashion industry have eagerly adopted AI to refine their products, services, and overall operations. These examples acutely demonstrate the seamless integration of AI across various dimensions in fashion, spanning from personalized styling and virtual shopping assistants to cutting-edge product design and the automation of retail processes: H&M: Incorporating AI in its recommendation engines, H&M provides personalized product suggestions to online…
Stax possesses significant recent experience in evaluating elevator service providers. This expertise has prompted discussions about current interest in the elevator services market—a growing sector with a strong potential for investment. There are currently over 1M vertical transportation units in the U.S., which are expected to slightly increase each year through 2026. Stax estimates the U.S. vertical transportation services market to be ~$5.5-7B, growing in the mid-single digits through 2026.…
Industrial automation is top-of-mind for manufacturers and logistics companies, especially given the prevailing labor shortage and escalating material and labor expenses. Key market players, such as Robotics Manufacturers, Distributors, and Systems Integrators (SIs), have been widening their offerings to meet evolving demand, causing a surge in mergers and acquisitions. Consolidation across the value chain is intensifying, and players are now having to compete with current and former partners, in addition…
Law firms leverage a range of solutions to enhance and optimize their business across IT, operations to legal matters. Third-party deposition services are a major part of the legal services ecosystem, and include court reporting, legal videography, interpreting services, and transcription services. These services are poised for steady topline and margin growth in the coming years, benefiting from an increasing number of cases, like-for-like pricing increases, and a shift to remote depositions. Key…
In both the commit and reject path, the value of information can depend on when in the process insights are developed. Early in the process, sponsors have much greater ability to avoid future costs and preserve resources and team bandwidth in the reject case and are much more likely to build an edge in a competitive process in the commit case. Later in the process, the value of information is…
Customer Closeness – the ‘Why’ In our experience, business event organizers aren’t as close to their customers as they claim. Deep and segmented customer understanding is vital to any business’s success, particularly in events where the job of organizers is to facilitate meaningful connections. Tradeshows are increasingly competing for participants’ time, attention, and budgets. Major event brands that have disappeared due to losing touch with their audiences include Baselworld and…
Generative AI solutions, e.g., Open.AI/Microsoft’s ChatGPT, Google’s Bard, and Meta’s LLaMA are a generational leap forward from previous AI tools. While previous generations remain highly effective for their specifically trained tasks, they are otherwise limited to “one-trick-ponies.” Generative AI tools are more versatile and adaptive and capable of performing a wide array of tasks without requiring specific training. These developments will significantly impact private equity investment strategies, portfolio company productivity,…
Healthcare M&A Activity: Q1 2023 Overview The healthcare industry has seen an increase in M&A activity in Q1 2023, with 15 announced transactions, just below the post-pandemic high of 17 in Q4 2022. During Q1 2023, the average size of the seller in announced transactions remained high at $827M, just below the historic high of $852M reached in 2022, indicating that the trend towards larger transaction sizes continued. The total…