In Practice
Where We Get Called In
XOFFICERS is engaged when leadership is the variable that determines whether the outcome is achieved. In private equity and large corporate contexts, the question is always the same: what does this protect or recover on the return? The four situations below answer that question directly.
Execution Under Activist Pressure
Engineering Project Services · 2022 · Execution Leadership
An international multi-disciplinary engineering and project services business, backed by one of the world's largest activist investment funds, had a recently appointed CEO facing two immediate priorities: implement world-class asset management capabilities to improve return on invested capital, and conduct a strategic review of the capital investment programme to improve shareholder returns.
The organisation had the intent. The capacity to execute alongside an incoming chief executive at the pace the investors demanded was not there.
XSUPERARE™ (Overcome) established the Ground Truth for the engagement: what the programme actually required, what constraints would determine whether it worked, and what success looked like before anyone started. XOFFICERS then provided behind-the-scenes support to the CFO, working as senior advisor, mentor, and hands-on implementation partner. A cross-functional team was established and led to execute an enterprise-wide transformation focused on disciplined capital allocation and asset management. Alignment disciplines were integrated into the operating cadence to reinforce the cultural shift required.
The result: an enterprise-wide transformation that improved return on capital employed. Funding sources optimised, reducing weighted average cost of capital and increasing shareholder returns. Finance leadership capacity increased so that competing priorities could be addressed without overwhelming limited resources.
"Our investors prefer a reasonable strategy well executed to poor delivery of perfection. XOFFICERS allows us to get back on track when reality bites and outcomes demand impactful action." Chief Executive Officer
Building The Leadership Platform for a PE Carve-Out
Digital Infrastructure · 2023 · Execution Leadership
A private equity owned digital infrastructure business was implementing an industry roll-up and revenue diversification strategy. The recently appointed CEO needed to establish governance and management capabilities for a carved-out business, integrate a recently acquired business, and implement a rapid development rollout to support customer strategies and deliver ambitious revenue growth.
The situation demanded senior leadership capacity across multiple functions simultaneously, at a pace that did not allow for permanent appointments or extended recruitment processes.
XSUPERARE™ (Overcome) established the Ground Truth for the engagement before work began. XOFFICERS provided senior advisor support to the CEO and built fit-for-purpose risk and governance capabilities while recruiting a permanent General Counsel. The finance function was transformed while the board completed a thorough recruitment process for a permanent CFO with public markets experience. When a recently acquired business required rapid stabilisation, XOFFICERS ran the diagnostics and established the operating disciplines to support a turnaround plan.
The result: governance and risk management capabilities established to meet the expectations of sophisticated owners. Finance function transformed to align performance management and decision support with the executive agenda and shareholder value creation. The executive team and board agenda focused on growth strategy, with the business positioned to secure sustainable funding in the face of inflationary pressure.
"The tenacious leadership style has an immediate impact. The whole team recognises the important role XOFFICERS plays in delivering real outcomes at pace." Chief Executive Officer
Surfacing Reality Before It Surfaced Itself
Developer Asset Management · 2023 · Leadership Intelligence
A market-leading engineering and property management company, privately owned by a superannuation fund and their offshore joint venture partner, had grown through acquisition. Two tuck-in acquisitions had failed to perform under the management of the incumbent executive team. A scheduled refinancing of syndicated bank facilities was approaching. The board needed a clear picture of what was actually wrong before it could act.
XCLARITAS™ (Understand) surfaced that picture. The leadership team responded individually to the diagnostic instrument, and the data exposed what the team had been carrying without naming it: the acquisitions had been managed against assumptions that had never been tested. Business plans were developed that addressed the underlying drivers of poor performance, not the symptoms the team had been managing.
Fractional leadership was deployed to cover two roles leading the senior management teams of both businesses while the picture was established and the response designed.
The result: a business case developed and board approval secured for a turnaround strategy. Both failing businesses brought under group control. The first turned around with a products and markets simplification strategy led by the incumbent management team. The second fully integrated into parent company operations, delivering scale benefits and clear accountability for cost efficiency synergies.
"The under-performance of two tuck-in acquisitions was a distraction for my executive leadership team and a concern for the board. I didn't have a spare me, so turned to XOFFICERS. We had stability, control and an achievable plan inside a month." Chief Executive Officer
Insolvency Avoided. Business Stabilised. Sale Completed.
FMCG Health Supplements · 2024 · Agile Leadership Disciplines
A private equity owned health supplements business was unable to service its highly leveraged capital structure. Senior lenders had appointed Receivers and Managers to the parent holding company. The priorities were stark: establish an independent board, appoint an executive leadership team to stabilise the business and develop a turnaround plan, and prepare the business for sale or recapitalisation, all while providing lenders with transparency on performance, liquidity and funding needs.
The operating discipline to move all three priorities simultaneously did not exist. Decisions were being escalated. Governance was absent. The risk of value-destructive action by nervous directors was real and immediate.
XOFFICERS stood up a full-complement independent board of directors with practical experience of running businesses that need financial stakeholders to stand still. XIMPETUS™ (Adapt and Respond) was applied to the most urgent priority: stabilise the business and prepare it for sale. The diagnostic surfaced where the discipline was missing and installed the operating rhythm the leadership team needed to move at pace. Interim and fractional executives were placed into vacated key leadership roles. Rapid response disciplines were embedded into the day-to-day tactical and operational decision-making cadence, building staff engagement and restoring business performance.
The result: enforcement action by senior creditors avoided, mitigating a value-destructive chain reaction. Governance and executive leadership gaps closed by a team who had each other's backs. Business stabilised. A business plan developed and an accelerated sale process completed, culminating in an offer accepted by senior and subordinated lenders, insolvency avoided.
"You cannot overstate the positive impact of good governance and effective leadership when financial stakeholders are forced to protect their interests. You can rely on XOFFICERS when protecting stakeholder value is a priority." Receiver & Manager of Ultimate Holding Company
Understand · Adapt & Respond · Overcome