At ECI we've supported our portfolio to make over 80 acquisitions. So what are some of the top lessons we've seen over that time? Investment Director, Skyler ver Bruggen, and North American Growth Specialist, Brett Pentz, share their tips for what you need to make a success of M&A:
1. Clearly defined strategy
Working on deals can be time-consuming and uncertain, so having a clearly defined strategy from the outset is vital. Management teams, and subsequently Boards, need to have open and honest conversations to be completely aligned about direction, sources of growth, and execution considerations.
2. Relationships
The most important factor in any deal (and a primary objective!) is to become a seller's favourite destination for their sale. Meet people face-to-face (especially important for UK buyers to be considered by US sellers), be honest and communicate how much you admire their business. Demonstrating patience and listening to understand seller motivations is important in building that connection as well. The stronger the relationship you build, the higher the likelihood that a deal can be made off market.
3. Keep the Board updated
Be sure to communicate progress at board meetings and key updates in between. Ensure the team is up-to-speed on progress, challenges, and responses to their questions to avoid any surprises – a standard M&A page in the board pack is recommended..
4. Identifying resource levels
Narrowing down and qualifying targets is a big resource burden, which can be amplified depending on your strategy. Is it one or two deals, or a full-on M&A strategy of 15 or 20 deals? If it’s the latter, you’ll need full-time resource. If the strategy is more limited in scope, identifying trusted advisors you can work with is critical. Carve out chunks of their time, schedule regular updates, and most importantly, hold each other accountable.
Skyler ver Bruggen, Investment Director and Brett Pentz, North America Growth Specialist
5. Strategic outreach
One tactical consideration is how you build salience when reaching out to potential opportunities, so you get a response and quickly qualify them. Success can often be found on the back of industry conferences, especially those where you’ve had an active presence – it’s a great way to bump into potential targets or build recognition so that your next message stands out in someone’s inbox.
6. Earn-outs
Structure them carefully, depending on the nature of the industry and the behaviour you want to drive. Earn-outs can work well in a recurring revenue model, where customer based revenue is stable and you are in control of the cost base (to avoid over investment that pushes down EBITDA to drive revenue). However, where revenue is more uncertain, or one-off, there’s the potential for a seller to drive low-quality, unrepeated revenue to hit the earn-out. If the acquisition is competing for the same customers as the buyer, earn-outs should be avoided.
7. Integration
A huge topic in itself, and getting it right is obviously paramount. Broadly it can be split into three buckets:
- Onboarding: define legals, financial reporting, cash management, etc.
- Systems and data: specify, choose and optimise a set of systems for running the business (i.e. Salesforce, HubSpot, Tableau) and develop a methodology for rolling these out. It doesn’t need to be in place from day one, but a clear time frame and plan is essential.
- Platform: Don’t underestimate how big platform integration and migration are, as it can take years to get right. Good integration is all about good people and requires dedicated project management. Be clear about tranches, responsibilities, timings and ownership.
8. Winning hearts and minds
Any acquisition is a time of worry and instability for employees. Spend time with the team at all levels and present an overview of what the new parent company can do for them. Outline the high-level opportunity, the potential career progression and the stability it provides. Clear communication may seem like a small task, but it’s worth taking the time to make sure you get it right.
This article was created off the back of an ECI Unlocked webinar. You can listen to the whole webinar here.
Insights
27/11/2025
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How to get the most out of M&A
Independent Governance Group (IGG), the UK’s leading provider of professional pensions trusteeship and governance services, today announces the acquisition of pensions consultancy KGC Associates, further strengthening its governance offering.
With extensive experience spanning more than two decades, KGC provides independent evaluation and operational governance services including benchmarking, market review, operational governance and management consulting to a range of pension schemes. The firm has a strong reputation as a trusted leader in objective analysis and practical insight.
KGC’s services are well complemented by IGG’s trustee and governance expertise. The acquisition further enhances IGG’s capability to deliver end-to-end solutions that achieve good governance and optimal outcomes for members, an area where demand from employers and scheme trustees remains strong.
The KGC team will all retain their positions under IGG’s ownership. Kim Gubler, Managing Director, and Lesley Carline, Director, will continue with their client facing roles, with Hayley Mudge maintaining her leadership of the business’s research function as Head of Research.
The move follows two recent senior hires for IGG: Hatty Goodwin, who joined in September as Trustee Director and Head of Risk Transfer, and Jeremy Petty, who joined in October as Director to lead IGG’s creative communications and employee engagement agency, like minds. These are succeeding our investment in October 2024, to support organic and acquisitive growth. The Group will continue to evaluate complementary acquisition opportunities to accelerate its successful organic growth strategy and further deepen its talent pool.
Andrew Bradshaw, CEO of IGG, comments: “I am very pleased to welcome Kim, Lesley and Hayley to the IGG group. The first-class reputation they have built within the industry is based on deep expertise, while their focus on independent evaluation and operational governance services is a natural fit for our existing offering. Bringing KGC into the IGG group will allow us to offer our clients more of the governance services they are asking us for, from an established team of industry experts.”
Kim Gubler, Managing Director of KGC, comments: “I founded KGC as I saw a need for truly unconflicted and practical consulting. Over the past 20 years, KGC has become known for delivering objective, practical insights, underpinned by a rigorous evidence-based approach. As part of the IGG group, I’m looking forward to scaling this across an even wider group of employers and scheme trustees, with support from IGG’s business support infrastructure and technology. We’re ready to create even more impact with KGC.”
Lesley Carline, Director of KGC, adds: “The pensions landscape is fast evolving with increased regulation, market consolidation, and the advent of new technology driving demand for quality operational governance. We’re already playing our part in shaping how the industry responds to this with our evidence-based insights and solutions, but we want to go further. We’re looking forward to making the most of IGG’s network of offices across the UK to bring the KGC approach to even more clients.”
Hayley Mudge, Head of Research at KGC, adds: “We’re excited to join a business that aligns so strongly with our values. IGG has a reputation for combining excellence in service with a people-first approach, and this also reflects the way we see the world at KGC. Couple that with our complementary business specialisms – KGC’s independent oversight expertise with IGG’s broader trustee services – and there is strong alignment in how our businesses will fit together to deliver excellence for clients.”
Michael Butler, Partner at ECI, adds: “The acquisition of KGC to the IGG portfolio will further enhance its governance offering, allowing IGG to offer truly end-to-end governance services. Furthermore, bringing Kim, Lesley and Hayley into the IGG fold also strengthens the bench of experts within the business – an area where IGG already stands out as a business prioritising breadth and depth of industry expertise. We look forward to continuing to support the IGG growth story, through this acquisition and beyond.”
News
25/11/2025
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IGG acquires KGC Associates
This week, Duncan Ramsay joined over 70,000 attendees in Lisbon for Web Summit 2025, one of the world’s largest technology conferences. Unsurprisingly, the topic of the day was AI, with speakers covering quantum computing to the future of SaaS. One of the key takeaways was that across the board, it’s clear that those who are successfully becoming AI-first businesses are having to make big, strategic choices. It can’t just be small side projects or lovable hackathons. Duncan looks at some of those big decisions leaders are having to consider:
1. Once AI is a colleague, not a tool, what does your team look like?
The most striking theme from the conference was the shift from AI as a tool to AI as a co-worker. Businesses are increasingly deploying agents - autonomous AI systems that perform tasks traditionally done by humans - who are already transforming internal operations. For example, Vercel reduced its inbound SDR team from ten to one by codifying top-performer workflows into AI agents.
This isn’t just about efficiency. It’s about consistency and scale. AI can model top performers, reduce performance variability, and free up human time for higher-value work. At Vercel the remaining SDR now manages the agents, with the role becoming more analytical and strategic. That is a fundamental shift in thinking about the role of the team, types of hire, and how you want to structure your business going forward.
2. Building AI-first businesses
Shifting to an AI-first business requires cultural change. Des Traynor from Intercom shared how the company pivoted from a seat-based SaaS model to an AI-first business. Their agent, Fin, now resolves 65% of their customers’ queries and has reached a $50m run rate. The shift is significant and requires a willingness to make hard decisions and a deep understanding of the “jobs to be done” in each workflow.
The message was clear: AI transformation isn’t optional. It must be driven top-down, with a focus on measurable ROI. Companies that deploy AI in silos or treat it as a side project risk missing the real value.
3. Vertical SaaS: From software to service
Software is no longer just servicing users in end verticals; it is replicating the work those users were doing. A good example of this is Clio, which evolved from providing software to lawyers to now using AI to execute actual legal work. By automating tasks like onboarding and contract review, Clio is expanding access to legal services and unlocking new market opportunities. The same principles apply across SaaS businesses willing to take the leap, from healthcare to logistics. Can you move your business model from a tool that helps people get work done to a tool that does the work?
4. Trust, accuracy and the human in the loop
Companies are increasingly embedding trust and regulatory considerations into their AI strategies from the outset, recognising that ethical governance is essential to long-term success. Product decisions often include conducting ethical impact assessments, using frameworks like IBM’s Risk Atlas Nexus, and factoring in privacy, sovereignty, and data hosting concerns.
In regulated industries such as law and finance, firms like Luminance are mitigating risks like AI hallucinations by fine-tuning models with specialised data, using multi-model validation, and ensuring human oversight for high-stakes decisions.
5. What this means for the companies we back
For mid-market businesses, the opportunity is clear. AI can drive efficiency, improve customer experience, and unlock new revenue streams. But it requires thoughtful deployment, cultural readiness, and a clear understanding of where AI can add value.
At ECI, we’re already seeing portfolio companies get tangible value from agentic workflows (e.g. Avantia’s Holmes claims agent), AI-enhanced customer service (e.g. Moneypenny’s AI-enhanced PAs), and intelligent automation. Our role is to help them navigate this change - bringing the right talent, tools, and mindset to the table.
Web Summit 2025 reinforced that AI is a fundamental shift in how businesses operate for those willing to embrace it.
Insights
20/11/2025
Duncan Ramsay
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If AI demands a new business model, are you ready?
At this year’s ECI Unlocked: Digital Growth Summit, our portfolio CEOs shared hard-won lessons about making the right technology investment decisions, and what they learned along the way. The fundamental question remains: when should you build, and when should you buy?
1. The competitive advantage test
Mark Eastham, CEO of Avantia, has a clear framework, and noted it’s important to check your ego at the door. "If we believe that we can create a competitive advantage by building something ourselves in contrast to buying it, then we will seriously go for it. But we are never going to build a better CRM system than Salesforce."
For Avantia, competitive advantage lies in extracting data from systems to make real-time decisions that competitors can't. Systems of record? Buy them. Unique decisioning capabilities? Build them.
Moneypenny's CEO, Jesper With-Fogstrup echoes this principle. "Don't build if somebody else has built utility. Find the best of breed and connect it together if necessary." The important lesson he’s learned in making this approach work? Don’t build and then customise to death. Challenge every customisation you make to an off the shelf product by asking what true value it creates.
2. The AI acceleration
AI has become unavoidable. As Jesper noted, "if you're any business right now and AI is not on your agenda, you're probably mistaken. I can't think of any way where you wouldn't have it." Not only is it important in your own business, it is becoming key to tenders, with customers explicitly asking about AI features and how they will benefit
This shift is integral to your build vs buy decision making. In many cases, the AI product you need doesn’t need to be built from the ground up, and you can white label tools and integrate them to create something distinctive. However, if you already have an AI forward organisation and data processing is core to your product, then you have a unique opportunity to build something that massively outperforms competitors. This is the case with Avantia’s Cortex - an intelligent decision-making platform for pricing and rating that it built in 2017.
This has been able to be leveraged in their self-built and unique Holmes tool, to help process live claims. In controlled tests, Holmes helped make Avantia’s fraud detection rate x6 more effective.
But, when it comes to AI in their customer service model? That isn’t where their distinctiveness lies, so there it is better to buy a standard solution, and focus your efforts on the real marginal gains.
3. Simplify requirements
Sion Lewis from Ciphr discovered how complexity can often mask the real problem, making companies feel they need to build, when in reality they can simplify their needs into what will move the needle. When he joined, the team was managing systems with hundreds of data points, making it hard to focus on what actually mattered. Sion reflected that they spent too much time focussing on internal finance department requirements rather than on delivering value to their customers.
The breakthrough came from simplification and asking the right questions. Rather than adding more tools or complexity, Ciphr focussed on streamlining their approach. This shift toward customer value over internal convenience became a guiding principle for their technology decisions.
4. The importance of organisational adoption
Implementing technology successfully requires getting your teams on board from the start. Ciphr discovered this when implementing new systems. The question isn’t build vs buy, it’s implementation vs embedding. The key wasn't just having the right technology, but ensuring teams understood how it would help them do their jobs better.
This connects to Jesper's principle of thinking "problem first and solution second" rather than getting excited about new tools. When you approach technology decisions this way, every department understands the purpose and aligns on the expected outcomes before you begin building.
Organisational readiness matters as much as technical capability. Before building, ensure teams understand how the solution fits their workflows and why it will make their work more effective. The best-built solution delivers no value if your teams aren't prepared to adopt it properly.
5. Learning to fail fast
The most successful approach involves chunking large investments into smaller, measurable pieces. Rather than writing big cheques upfront, create use cases that identify which parts should be tackled first and where the most value lies.
Avantia's team learned to never write a big cheque in a waterfall approach, and instead deliberately break everything into bite-sized pieces. When returns diminish, they slow down, switch direction, or move resources elsewhere.
Post-implementation reviews are crucial, not just asking whether tools delivered expected results but using those learnings to inform future investment decisions.
The conversation revealed there's no universal answer to build vs buy, but there are universal principles. Focus on competitive advantage, be realistic about organisational capabilities, measure ruthlessly, and remember that technology serves people, not the other way around.
Insights
17/11/2025
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Build or buy? How CEOs are making smarter tech decisions
We’re delighted to share the news that ECI-backed TAG, a global award-winning travel and event management company, has announced several key leadership changes in support of its continued global growth and expansion strategy.
Fred Stratford has assumed the position of Chair. In his new role he will lead the board working closely with ECI and the Executive Team. Stratford brings deep industry experience, having served as Group Chief Executive Officer at Reed & Mackay, a global travel provider which ECI backed in 2011. With more than 25 years of experience in the travel industry and a strong track record of leading high-performing teams, Stratford is well-positioned to support TAG’s continued growth and to oversee the relationship between TAG’s Executive Team and its investors.
Jens Penny, TAG’s Chief Executive Officer, will be stepping down after seven years with the company. During his tenure, Penny has helped drive TAG’s transformation and international expansion, positioning the business for long-term growth and success. His leadership has guided TAG through a period of significant evolution leading up to the 2024 investment transaction and has laid the foundations for TAG’s next phase of strategic development. An external search is currently underway for a new CEO.
Complementing this leadership evolution, John McLaughlin joined TAG as Chief Financial Officer earlier this year. McLaughlin will also serve as a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Team. He brings 25 years of experience in finance, including CFO appointments in the travel sector and PE-backed businesses. McLaughlin will oversee the company’s global finance teams and play a pivotal role in driving financial strategy and performance across all regions.
“I’m thrilled to be taking on the Chair role at TAG,” said Stratford. “The company has an incredible foundation and reputation in the global travel and event management space. I’ve long admired TAG’s high-touch, personalised approach and the outstanding level of service provided to clients around the world. I look forward to building on the great work of our talented team and the exceptional partnerships that have been developed with suppliers. Together with the Executive Team and ECI Partners, we’ll continue driving the company’s next phase of growth and success.
"Thank you to Jens for his contribution to the business over the past seven years. Looking ahead, we're delighted to be working again with Fred, after our successful partnership together at Reed & Mackay. With the new additions of Fred and John, we’re excited by the opportunity TAG has to further build its global leadership position delivering high-end travel management services to some of the largest names in music, film and TV production, as well as top C-suite and corporate executives," said George Moss, Partner at ECI Partners.
“I’m delighted to be joining TAG at such a pivotal and exciting time in its growth journey,” said John
McLaughlin, Chief Financial Officer. “As CFO, I look forward to working closely with the leadership team to drive our strategic growth initiatives and deliver enduring value for all stakeholders.”
These changes mark an important step forward in TAG’s long-term growth plan, ensuring the company remains strategically aligned as it continues to expand its global presence and strengthen its partnerships across all divisions.
News
11/11/2025
Read Time: 1 Min
TAG welcomes Fred Stratford and John McLaughlin to exec team
At the recent Big Data LDN conference it was clear that the pace of change in the data ecosystem is accelerating - and the winners are those helping businesses unlock value without requiring expensive business transformation programs.
Toby Fitzherbert shares his standout takeaways from the sessions:
1. Creating a trusted view of your business
It wouldn’t be a LinkedIn post in 2025 without mentioning AI. According to Gartner, 75% of organisations rank AI-ready data among their top five investment areas. However, if AI is going to be used to make decisions in your business, there’s no way you can do it without trusted and reliable data. This is where data management tools are becoming a necessity – context is essential with AI, and if you aren’t able to make your structured, semi-structured and unstructured data readable and accessible, you risk bad data infrastructure creating bad data-led decision making. The benefits of quality data management tools are a single source of truth, better data governance, and standardised formats that are then easy to overlay with AI and analytics that drive good decision making within organisations.
2. Data governance
As organisations scale their data ecosystems, the need for robust data governance becomes increasingly critical. Compliance and consistency require a clear framework, and the right people and processes in place to manage data as a strategic asset. This includes establishing data quality programmes with common metrics and issue-resolution protocols; fostering data literacy through glossaries, catalogues, and training; and implementing secure, compliant access policies. Without such foundations, data and AI initiatives risk amplifying silos, biases, and operational complexity. To truly unlock the value of data, businesses must also elevate data leaders to the senior management table, ensuring governance remains central to strategic decision-making rather than an afterthought.
3. Innovation
Innovation in data and AI begins with ambition. Setting bold goals that challenge conventional thinking and push the boundaries of what is possible. True progress emerges when organisations are willing to experiment, iterate, and occasionally fail. Many successful innovators take a “build first, optimise later” mindset. Crucially, innovation must be guided by a deep understanding of customer needs. Engaging directly with customers throughout the development process ensures that new solutions not only leverage cutting-edge data capabilities but also deliver tangible value.
4. Organisational alignment
Achieving alignment between business strategy and internal data initiatives is essential for driving meaningful impact. Aligning data outputs with organisational objectives means you can move beyond isolated projects toward scalable, value-driven data products. A structured approach can help: 1) align on clear objectives; 2) identify measurable metrics to track progress; 3) design, build and validate data products; 4) focused efforts to drive adoption across the organisation; and 5) measuring impact that ensures accountability and continuous improvement. Embedding a process likes this helps ensure every data initiative contributes to long-term growth.
It’s an exciting time to be investing in the data space – keen to connect with others in the sector to hear your thoughts.
Insights
07/11/2025
Toby Fitzherbert
Read Time: Min
Why are data solutions providers winning in 2025?
Simona Everts, Associate in the ECI Commercial Team, reflects on how her international background supports her work with management teams, why she wanted to join ECI, and the chemical element she thinks she’d be.
Q: How did your Chemistry background lead to a career in finance?
When I started my degree, I definitely thought that would be my career, but through my degree I realised I found the time in the lab quite lonely. It taught me I liked the analytical side and spotting patterns, but I wanted to spend my time with people and see the applications of my problem solving in real life. Consulting gave me a great opportunity to do that and then from there it kept my options open to move into private equity.
Q: What made you want to make that move into private equity, and why ECI specifically?
I was increasingly interested in things that were more long-term or more hands on when it came to value creation, so the Commercial Team role was perfect for me. I didn’t want to just advise companies; I wanted to be there by their side for the challenges they would go through as they scale. The nice thing about this role compared to other private equity firms is that the Commercial Team are also involved from the moment we meet a prospective management team, so from the deal all the way to exit. That really means we understand and are part of the whole process and see the full business life cycle. We can identify value opportunities early and that helps us build conviction in that partnership.
Aside from the role specifics, I’d come across ECI in my previous firm, and they had a really strong reputation. People always spoke about them as a firm that invest in great businesses, and that they’re good people who treat those they work with well. It’s a nice thing about the move from consultancy into private equity – you get fairly good DD on your future employer!
Q: You were born in Italy, grew up in the Netherlands, lived in the UK and America, and now obviously work here. How has that helped you in your work life?
Being able to speak Dutch is helpful in my day-to-day role, but I think more importantly, when you know what it’s like to live in a country or be in a country you’re not from, it gives you a certain openness. You expect to meet people that don’t fit a certain type, you know what it’s like to be different or not to know anybody, it helps you to overcome shyness. I was very shy when I was young, and I remember when I went to school in the UK when I was 8, and I just didn’t speak a word of English, and within two months, I spoke English. You learn to just get on with it, and it does build a certain resilience.
Q: What does a typical day look like in your role?
It is really hard to pin this down as one of the things I love so much about this role is that there is just so much variety. I jump from doing a piece of data analysis on a portfolio’s competitive landscape to having expert calls or speaking to their customers to understand drivers for a product roadmap, or developing an ideal customer profile… It’s super varied. I suppose the part that is most satisfying is seeing it being received positively, helping management teams to understand something they don’t know about their business, and thinking about where opportunities might lie.
Q: How do you predict value creation in private equity will change over the next five years?
It’s clearly an area people are investing in, across the whole industry. There’s a lot more competition around deals and higher valuations, which means you need more conviction in value creation opportunities, especially in the context of a tougher macro environment. It’s a key part of how we protect value and make businesses more resilient, enabling them to continue to scale. I think those trends will continue, so it will continue to grow in importance, I suspect with more emphasis on resilience as the world becomes less predictable. That includes macro volatility but also defensibility and the massive growth and margin opportunities in the wake of AI.
Quick Fire with Simona:
What motivates you to get out of bed in the morning?
Variety, definitely. I want to keep learning and solve new problems.
What chemical element would you be?
This is a classic chemistry degree question for each new cohort. Lots of people would go with initials – very lazy, also I don’t know what Selenium does… My answer is actually Hydrogen – it’s the simplest and the most essential – who wouldn’t want to be that?
What is your favourite Dutch term?
Gezellig – there’s not a perfect English translation, but it effectively means cosiness, but in the sense of a nice atmosphere of togetherness. Similar to hygge, but more like when you have a nice dinner and you’re having fun in the company of nice people.
What holiday are you planning next?
I am going skiing in Italy with friends, which is great. One skill I have is I’m a good skier, so I’m really looking forward to it.
What’s your worst habit?
I didn’t have an answer for this and then I asked my boyfriend, and he immediately said, going on your phone in bed. He didn’t even pause.
News
06/11/2025
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“Quick Fire” with Simona Everts
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Simona Everts
Customer churn can feel like the company equivalent of being ghosted. Where did that customer go, did you even see them leave the party? It can be an incredibly frustrating part of the customer lifecycle, and at scale, it has a direct impact on growth. The good news is that through the use of AI, companies are better placed to understand their customers and anticipate when they are likely to leave, and why. Max Jackson from the ECI Commercial Team shares his top five top tips for using AI to keep customers from doing the digital Irish goodbye:
Predictive analytics: the crystal ball of churn
AI can now be used to spot a ghoster before they even start fading. By analysing patterns like a drop in usage, a spike in support tickets, or suspiciously quiet buying habits, machine learning models can be used to identify high risk customers and flag when they look like they are about to leave, allowing you to intervene before it is too late.
Personalised engagement: because no one likes generic
Used properly, AI doesn’t do “Dear Valued Customer.” Instead it can be used to segment users into micro-groups and serve up hyper-personalised content - think Netflix recommendations, but for your product. Companies that leverage this ability to segment and customise relevant content will find their marketing efforts driving much higher engagement.
AI chatbots: the customer whisperers
AI-powered chatbots are always on and always polite, and as users get more comfortable talking to a bot there is likely to be further growth in trust and, in turn, use of these tools. Chatbots are evolving beyond handling FAQs; they can engage inactive users, triage customer queries and suggest next steps, keeping the conversation (and the relationship) alive. The data and insights they capture around customer conversations can also be used to drive product and marketing decisions.
Sentiment analysis: what are customers really thinking
Natural language processing tools can now be used to scan emails, chats, reviews, and social posts to detect shifts in customer sentiment. Whether it’s subtle frustrations or full-blown disappointment, AI can identify emotional cues across multiple channels and over time, helping you pinpoint where attention is needed most.
Proactive retention: the digital equivalent of “don’t go!”
The best AI tools won’t just sense a customer is drifting, they can act or prompt a salesperson with the best next action. Whether it’s a timely discount, a helpful nudge, or a reminder on product features and roadmap, there are an increasing number of tools to help reel customers back in before they’re gone for good.
Insights
31/10/2025
Max Jackson
Read Time: Min
Digital Irish goodbyes: How you can better understand if your customers are still at the party
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