Business Value Creation

We deliver on these objectives with the help of a team of professionals including our Astria Group Operating Advisors

Astria partners with accomplished senior managers with the entrepreneurial drive and skills to support building leading companies in the lower middle market universe. We have found that the most effective Astria Group Operating Advisors will have 15+ years of senior management experience, including P&L responsibility for a minimum of $25 million of revenue and a combination of the following characteristics:

• A reputation as a leader in their chosen field
• An accomplished track record of achieving outstanding operating and financial results
• Strong leadership and experience in integrating acquisitions thoroughly
• A deep understanding of a particular industry
• The ability to evaluate relevant and actionable targets
• An aptitude for identifying untapped, value-creation opportunities
• A demonstrated history of high professional and ethical standards

The skill, specialization, experience and functional expertise required to drive maximum value can vary widely depending on each unique situation; however, we have found that in every situation the most effective Astria Group Operating Advisors must also possess the following general attributes:

• Ingenuity and resourcefulness – efficiently accomplishing goals, adding resources or applying creative solutions as necessary
• Accountability – taking responsibility for problems and their solutions
• Ability to prioritize – knowing what to ignore and what matters, tackling the most important, high impact items first

Depending on the situation, Astria Group Operating Advisors will work closely with our professionals as well as a variety of team members at the client.

Their soft skills – a Astria Group Operating Advisors’ ability to lead organizational change and influence – are incredibly important, if not more important, than the hard skills. Without the ability to elicit support from others – specifically engaging the emotions and logic of others to communicate a persuasive vision and connect individuals to their organizations and to their leader – even the most perfectly matched hard skills for any given situation may be reduced to being completely ineffective. The best Astria Group Operating Advisors use their empathy to effectively navigate and synthesize the concerns of the firm and the portfolio company management team: they know when to act and equally important – when to listen.

While Astria Group’s value creation capabilities are not mandated for all clients, we have found that it reduces transaction risk and produces better overall outcomes. The value creation path enables Astria to optimize a client’s positioning before bringing them to market, and identify issues and opportunities early in the business selling process. We believe that this approach differentiates us from other transaction advisors who may not have the interest or resources to provide these services.