Portfolio Company CEO Recruitment

Retained CEO search for PE-backed portfolio companies, built around your value creation plan. Founder replacement, buy-and-build, turnaround and pre-exit.

  • Founded by Adrian Lawrence FCA, ICAEW
  • Permanent, interim and fractional C-suite hires
  • Offices in London and the West Midlands
Executive meeting a colleague

Portfolio Company CEO Recruitment

The portfolio company CEO is the most consequential single hire in most PE deals. The GP has made a thesis about what the business can become; the CEO is the person who either delivers that thesis or fails to. Getting this wrong is not just an operational problem — it is a return problem, and in a typical hold period, a CEO who takes twelve months to find their feet has already consumed a material fraction of the value creation window. The candidates who actually work in this environment are a small subset of the broader CEO market: people who have done it before in comparable PE-backed businesses, who understand the GP relationship, and who can establish authority quickly in a business that is being asked to perform above its historical trajectory. To discuss your requirement, call 0203 834 9616.

Exec Capital recruits Chief Executive Officers for PE-backed portfolio companies across the UK mid-market. Portfolio company CEO appointments arise at deal completion when the incumbent is being replaced, during the hold period when the business needs a different leader to deliver the next phase of the value creation plan, and pre-exit when management reinforcement is required to maximise the sale process. Every mandate is run on a retained basis by our specialist team, with Adrian Lawrence FCA overseeing each mandate, and for urgent deal-completion requirements we agree a compressed timetable with the investor at briefing.

This page is written for the people who commission these searches: investment directors, partners and operating partners at private equity houses, portfolio company chairs, and the boards of businesses that have just taken institutional investment. It sets out how a PE-backed CEO search actually runs, how the brief changes with the deal situation, what investors assess, how packages are structured, and what a new CEO should be doing in the first 90 days.

Short answer

Portfolio company CEO recruitment is a retained executive search for the chief executive of a private equity-backed business, run with the investor rather than just for the company. The brief is set by the value creation plan, the shortlist is built from leaders who have delivered against an investment thesis before, and the package is usually base salary, bonus and sweet equity. Exec Capital runs these searches for PE houses, chairs and boards across the UK.

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What a portfolio company CEO appointment involves

The portfolio company CEO mandate is defined by the investment thesis rather than the job description. Before we discuss candidate profiles, we need to understand what the GP bought, what they believe the business can become, and what the specific operational, commercial, or strategic challenges the CEO will be required to address. A business being acquired for organic revenue growth needs a different CEO from a business being acquired for operational efficiency improvement, and both need a different CEO from a business being prepared for a buy-and-build programme. The candidate specification flows from the thesis, not from a generic CEO profile.

The role itself combines the standard CEO mandate — running the business day-to-day, leading the senior team, setting the direction — with the specific demands of the PE-backed operating environment. The portfolio company CEO reports to a board that includes GP representatives who have strong views, clear return expectations, and the governance authority to act on them. Monthly or quarterly board packs replace the informal reporting that many owner-managed businesses operate. The pace of decision-making, the focus on measurable outcomes, and the visibility of financial performance are all materially higher than in a comparable corporate or owner-managed context.

The legal position is worth stating plainly because it shapes the conversations a good CEO has with the investor. A portfolio company CEO who sits on the board owes the same statutory duties as any other director, including the duty under section 172 of the Companies Act 2006 to promote the success of the company for the benefit of its members as a whole. In practice the investor is the dominant member, but the CEO still has to weigh lenders, employees, customers and suppliers, and the strongest candidates understand where those interests align with the investment case and where they need to be managed openly at the board.

For the comprehensive treatment of the portfolio company CEO mandate, see our Private Equity Executive Search hub.

How Exec Capital approaches portfolio company CEO mandates

The portfolio company CEO search is run from the investment thesis outward. We begin with a detailed GP brief: the sector, the business model, the value creation plan, the management team structure, the board dynamic, and the specific performance gaps the CEO is being appointed to close. This brief shapes the candidate specification and determines which part of the CEO candidate market we draw from.

We access the portfolio company CEO candidate pool through direct outreach. The individuals who are most qualified for PE-backed CEO mandates are not browsing job boards — they are known in the PE and operating partner network, actively placed in existing roles, and moveable only through a direct approach from someone they trust to represent the opportunity accurately. Exec Capital’s relationships across the UK PE market mean we can make that approach credibly and quickly.

For urgent deal-completion mandates, we agree a compressed timetable with the investor at briefing. We do not compress the quality of the process — we compress the timeline by running the search with greater intensity and running more of the steps in parallel than a standard retained search would.

How we run a portfolio CEO search with the investor

A portfolio company CEO search has more stakeholders than an ordinary chief executive appointment. The deal team holds the investment case, the operating partner often holds the view on what good operational leadership looks like, the chair (frequently an investor-appointed independent) will work most closely with the new CEO, and the existing management team will be asked to follow whoever is appointed. We run the search so that each of those voices is heard at the right point, and so that the final decision is made on evidence the whole board can stand behind. We agree the timetable with you at briefing.

Stage What happens Who is involved on the investor side
1. Investor brief We take the brief from the investment case: the value creation plan, the equity story, the leverage the business carries, the board as it stands, and the gaps the CEO must close. We ask what would make the appointment a failure as well as what would make it a success. Deal partner or investment director, operating partner, chair
2. Specification and scorecard The brief becomes a written specification and an assessment scorecard tied to the value creation plan: the three to five outcomes the CEO must deliver, the experience that evidences them, and the behaviours the board needs. Sign-off by the deal team and chair
3. Market mapping and direct approach We map sitting and recent PE-backed CEOs, step-up candidates and relevant corporate operators, then approach them directly and confidentially. Off-limits lists for your other portfolio companies are agreed up front. Investor confirms off-limits and sensitivity
4. Shortlist and interviews A shortlist with written assessments against the scorecard. First interviews with the chair and operating partner, then a deeper session with the deal team, often built around a case on the business’s own numbers. Chair, operating partner, deal team
5. Management assessment and referencing Structured assessment of the preferred candidates, plus deep referencing with former chairs, investors and direct reports — including people the candidate did not nominate, where that can be done appropriately. Investor’s preferred assessment provider where one is used
6. Offer, package and equity We manage the offer conversation, including base, bonus, sweet equity and any co-investment, and keep the candidate engaged while legal documents are agreed. Deal team, investor’s lawyers, remuneration committee if one exists
7. Onboarding We stay in contact through notice and the first months in post, and support the handover from any interim leader and the agreement of the 100-day plan. Chair and operating partner

The operating partner and the chair

In many mid-market houses the operating partner is the person who will spend most time with the new CEO in the first year, so we treat their view of the role as central rather than advisory. Where the business has an investor-appointed chair, we usually run day-to-day contact through the chair, because the CEO–chair relationship is the one that most often determines whether an appointment holds. Where the board does not yet have a strong chair, it is often worth appointing one before or alongside the CEO, and we can run both processes together through our chairman recruitment practice.

Referencing and management assessment

PE investors rely on referencing more heavily than most boards, because the cost of a wrong appointment is measured in lost months of the hold. We go beyond the nominated referees: former chairs, investors who sat on the candidate’s previous boards, finance directors who worked alongside them, and, where appropriate, people who saw the candidate under pressure. Our guide to senior reference checking explains the approach. If the investor uses a business psychologist or management assessment firm, we build their work into the timetable rather than bolting it on at the end.

If you are also assessing the existing team at or before completion, our guide on how to assess a management team before deal close sets out how that work connects to a later CEO search.

Appointing a CEO to a portfolio company?

Exec Capital runs retained CEO searches with the investor, the operating partner and the chair, built around your value creation plan. Call 0203 834 9616 or send us the brief.

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The candidate pool

CEOs with direct PE-backed track records are the primary pool. These are individuals who have run a PE-backed business of comparable size and sector, delivered against a GP’s investment thesis, and navigated the board relationship that comes with it. They understand the reporting cadence, the governance expectations, and the personal accountability the environment demands. The pool of genuinely qualified individuals who are actively moveable is smaller than GPs typically expect — which is why the search requires direct network access rather than open advertising.

Senior executives from PE-backed businesses below CEO level represent the step-up pool: CFOs, COOs, and divisional MDs who have operated in the PE environment and are ready for the top seat. These candidates have the cultural calibration that PE requires; the assessment focuses on whether they have the strategic leadership capability and the board relationship management skills the CEO role demands in addition to their functional expertise.

Corporate executives with strong operational track records can be credible portfolio company CEOs, particularly where the investment thesis is operationally rather than financially driven. The adjustment required is to the governance model and the reporting intensity — which suits some corporate executives and challenges others. We assess this honestly rather than presenting candidates whose cultural fit we doubt.

Two smaller pools are worth considering in the right situation. The first is former PE-backed CEOs who have recently exited: they have often realised value, know the cycle from completion to sale, and may be looking for a second or third PE role. Their motivation needs testing carefully, because a leader who has just had a successful exit may want a shorter, sharper mandate than the investor is planning. The second is operating partners and portfolio operators who want to return to running a single business. They bring an investor’s view of value creation, but some have been away from line leadership long enough that the referencing needs to focus on what they did as a CEO, not what they advised others to do.

Portfolio CEO by situation

The same title covers very different jobs. Most portfolio company CEO briefs fall into one of five situations, and the right candidate for one is often the wrong candidate for another. The table below is how we frame the conversation with investors at the start of a search.

Situation What the investor needs CEO profile to look for Common pitfall
Founder replacement Professional leadership for a business that has grown on the founder’s instinct, often with the founder still a shareholder and sometimes still in the building. A CEO who has followed a founder before, can build systems and a second-tier team without dismantling what made the business work, and can manage a former owner with respect. Appointing a corporate process-builder who loses the commercial energy, or allowing the founder’s role after completion to stay vague.
Buy-and-build A platform leader who can run the base business, find and complete add-on acquisitions, and integrate them into a single operating model. Evidence of several completed acquisitions and, more importantly, integrations: systems, culture, pricing and people decisions made in the first months after each deal. Hiring a dealmaker who enjoys buying but leaves a federation of businesses that never integrate, which buyers mark down at exit.
Turnaround Stabilisation of an underperforming asset: cash, covenants, lender confidence, cost base and a credible recovery plan. A leader who has run a business under lender scrutiny, takes hard decisions quickly, and works closely with a strong finance lead. Often preceded by an interim. Running a slow permanent search while cash runs down; in many turnarounds an interim CEO goes in first.
Pre-exit A CEO who can hit the numbers in the run-up to sale and present the business convincingly to trade or financial buyers. Exit experience, credibility with buyers and their advisers, and the stamina to run the business and a sale process at the same time. Appointing too close to the process, so buyers see an untested CEO and discount the forecast.
Carve-out A standalone leader for a business separated from a corporate parent, with transitional service agreements to exit and functions to build. Someone who has stood up central functions, finance, IT, HR and procurement, and can turn a division’s culture into an owner’s culture. Keeping the divisional MD by default when the job has changed from running a unit to building a company.

For founder-led businesses specifically, our guide to the founder-to-CEO transition covers how to agree the founder’s role before a new chief executive arrives. Where the situation is closer to rescue than to growth, our turnaround executive recruitment practice works alongside the CEO search.

CEO mandate types across the investment cycle

Deal-completion replacement — where the incumbent CEO is being replaced at or shortly after close — is the most time-pressured mandate type. The GP needs someone in post quickly, the business needs leadership continuity, and the 100-day plan cannot wait. We run these mandates on an accelerated timetable agreed with the investor and prioritise candidates who are available and able to start quickly.

Hold-period upgrade — where the business has outgrown its existing CEO’s capability or the value creation plan requires a leader with different skills — is the most strategically important mandate type. The GP has the time to run a full process but cannot afford to let a performance gap persist. We advise on timing and run the process with the same intensity as a deal-completion mandate even when the timeline is less compressed.

Pre-exit reinforcement — where the GP wants to strengthen the management team ahead of a sale process — requires a CEO who can not only run the business but present it compellingly to potential buyers. The candidate’s communication skills, their track record of preparing businesses for exit, and their credibility with institutional buyers are assessment criteria alongside operational capability. Our pre-exit CEO recruitment page covers this situation in more depth.

What investors assess in a portfolio company CEO

Every CEO search tests leadership, judgement and sector knowledge. A PE-backed CEO search adds four tests that ordinary boards often treat lightly. These are the areas where we focus our written assessments and where investors spend most of their interview time.

Equity mindset

The investor is asking whether the candidate thinks like an owner. That means understanding how value is created and measured at exit: earnings growth, multiple, cash generation and debt paydown. A strong candidate can explain, without prompting, how decisions in their last business moved enterprise value, and is comfortable that a meaningful part of their reward depends on the exit rather than on salary. We test this through how candidates talk about previous capital structures, their own equity outcomes and the trade-offs they made between short-term earnings and long-term value.

Ownership of the 100-day plan

Investors want a CEO who will take the value creation plan and turn it into something the business can execute: priorities, owners, milestones and early wins. The best candidates challenge the plan during the process, because they have read the information memorandum and the diligence reports with a critical eye, and they arrive with a view on what they would do first. Our article on what PE firms get wrong in the first 100 days of portco hiring sets out the common mistakes.

Board reporting and investor relationships

A portfolio CEO presents to a board that reads the numbers closely and asks direct questions. We look for leaders who report bad news early, can separate signal from noise in a monthly pack, and treat the investor directors as a source of support rather than an audience to be managed. References from previous chairs and investor directors are the most reliable evidence here, which is why we seek them out.

Cash discipline

Most PE-backed businesses carry acquisition debt, and lenders watch covenants and liquidity closely. The CEO does not need to be a finance specialist, but they must understand working capital, cash conversion and the covenant position well enough to make decisions that protect them. Candidates from cash-rich corporate environments are often strong operators but have never had to manage a thirteen-week cash forecast; we test this directly. A strong CEO will usually want a say in the finance appointment as well, and we often run the CEO search alongside our portfolio company CFO recruitment work.

Regulated businesses

Where the portfolio company is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, the CEO will normally need regulatory approval as a senior manager before taking up the role, and the investor may also need change-in-control approval for the acquisition itself. That approval sits inside the search timetable, so we plan for it from the brief. Our SMF1 CEO hiring guide covers what the regulator expects of a chief executive in a regulated firm.

Permanent, interim or fractional: choosing the right CEO model

This page covers permanent CEO appointments for PE-backed businesses. Not every situation needs one immediately. Investors often combine models: an interim to stabilise the business after completion, followed by a permanent appointment once the value creation plan is settled. The table sets out when each makes sense.

Model Best for How it is paid Where to go
Permanent Leading the business through the hold to exit; owning the value creation plan. Salary, bonus and sweet equity, sometimes with a co-investment. This page
Interim Sudden departure, turnaround, or a bridge while a permanent search runs. Day rate, usually full time, for a defined period. Interim CEO for PE-backed businesses
Fractional Smaller or earlier-stage investments that need senior leadership for part of the week. Day rate for an agreed number of days a month. Fractional CEO
Part-time Stable businesses with a strong second tier where the CEO role does not need five days. Pro-rata salary, sometimes with equity. Part-time CEO

Interim and fractional CEOs often work through their own limited companies, so the client needs to consider the off-payroll working (IR35) rules when setting up the engagement. For a CEO appointment in a business that is not investor-backed, see our main CEO recruitment service.

Package structure: base, bonus and sweet equity

Portfolio company CEO packages are built differently from corporate packages, and candidates who have not worked in PE sometimes misread them. We do not publish pay figures on this page, because the right package depends on the size of the business, the sector, the deal structure and how much of the reward the investor wants to sit in equity. What we can describe is the structure, and we help investors set each element at a level that will attract the right candidate.

  • Base salary. Set to be competitive for the size and complexity of the business, but rarely the main source of reward. Investors usually prefer to keep fixed cost moderate and put more of the opportunity into equity.
  • Annual bonus. Normally tied to EBITDA, cash and a small number of value creation milestones agreed with the board. Candidates will ask how targets are set when the budget and the investment case diverge, and a clear answer helps close the offer.
  • Sweet equity. Ordinary shares or a management incentive plan that gives the management team a share of the equity value created above the investor’s return, typically subordinated to the investor’s loan notes or preference shares. For most portfolio CEOs this is where the life-changing reward sits.
  • Co-investment. Investors often ask the CEO to put some of their own money into the deal alongside the sweet equity, to align interests. The amount is a negotiation and needs to be raised early in the process, not at offer stage.
  • Leaver provisions. Good and bad leaver terms decide what happens to the CEO’s equity if they leave before exit. Candidates who have been through a PE cycle read these carefully, and unreasonable terms can lose a preferred candidate.

The tax treatment of management equity is specialist territory and changes with budgets, so both the investor and the candidate should take advice on how shares are valued and acquired. Our guide to sweet equity structures for PE management teams explains the mechanics in more detail, and our private equity salary guide covers pay across PE firms and their portfolio companies.

Two practical points come up in most searches. First, a candidate leaving another PE-backed business may be giving up unvested equity, and the investor will need to decide whether and how to compensate them. Second, a step-up candidate may never have held material equity before; walking them through the waterfall — what their shares would be worth at different exit values — is often the moment the offer becomes real to them.

Indicative timelines

We do not promise a fixed timescale, because the length of a portfolio company CEO search depends on factors outside anyone’s control: the notice periods of the strongest candidates, the investor’s internal approval process, any regulatory approval, and how quickly equity documents are agreed. What we can do is plan the timetable with you at briefing and hold every party to it.

For urgent deal-completion mandates, we run approach, assessment and referencing in parallel and keep decision points tight, so the investor sees candidates as early as the process allows. Where a CEO needs to be in post before a permanent appointment can start, we can put an interim in place while the permanent search runs. For planned hold-period or pre-exit mandates, the timetable is usually driven by candidate notice periods and the investor’s committee dates; senior candidates in PE-backed roles often have long notice periods and may need to manage their own exit from a current equity plan.

The step that most often slows a search is not finding candidates; it is the time between shortlist and decision when diaries, assessments and legal documents have to line up. Agreeing those steps and the people involved at the start is the single most useful thing an investor can do to keep a search moving.

What a portfolio company CEO typically delivers in the first 90 days

The first 90 days set the tone for the hold. Investors judge a new CEO less on results in that period than on whether they have understood the business, made the right early calls and built trust with the board. A strong appointment usually delivers the following.

  • A tested view of the value creation plan. Within the first weeks the CEO should tell the board which parts of the plan they believe, which they would change, and why. A CEO who simply adopts the deal model has not done the work.
  • A clear read on the leadership team. The CEO assesses each direct report and agrees with the chair any changes needed, including whether a new CFO or COO is required. Early, well-handled changes are far cheaper than late ones.
  • Control of cash and reporting. A monthly board pack the investor trusts, a cash forecast the CEO understands, and early sight of any covenant risk.
  • Early wins. Two or three visible improvements — pricing, a key customer, a cost line, a stalled project — that show the organisation the new CEO acts.
  • A working relationship with the chair and operating partner. An agreed rhythm of contact between board meetings, and clarity on which decisions sit with the CEO and which with the board.
  • A 100-day plan the board has approved. Priorities, owners and milestones for the rest of the first year, linked to the bonus targets.

Our guide to executive onboarding in the first 90 days covers how investors and chairs can support a new CEO through this period.

Engagement and fees

Portfolio company CEO searches are run on a retained basis. A CEO appointment that will shape the outcome of an investment needs a dedicated team, a full market map and a written assessment of every shortlisted candidate, and that is not compatible with a contingent model where the recruiter is only paid if a candidate they submit is hired. Our guide to retained vs contingent executive search explains the difference.

A retained search includes the investor briefing, the specification and scorecard, market mapping, direct approach, candidate interviews and written assessments, coordination of interviews and any third-party assessment, deep referencing, offer and package negotiation, and contact through onboarding. Fees are agreed at the outset and set out in our terms of business before work starts. Interim and fractional CEO appointments are charged on a day-rate basis for the period of the engagement. Where an investor has several portfolio searches to run, we are happy to discuss terms across the programme.

Who we work with

We run portfolio company CEO searches for mid-market private equity firms, growth investors, family offices taking controlling stakes, and the boards and chairs of businesses that have just taken institutional investment. Typical situations include primary buyouts of founder-owned businesses, secondary buyouts where the new investor wants a different leader, buy-and-build platforms, carve-outs from corporate groups, and businesses preparing for sale. The sectors vary with the UK mid-market: business and professional services, industrial and engineering businesses, technology and software, healthcare services, consumer brands and financial services, including FCA-regulated firms.

The UK private capital market is large and active, and the industry body UK Private Capital (formerly the BVCA) publishes research on its scale and on portfolio company performance.

Candidates: if you are a CEO or senior executive interested in PE-backed leadership roles, please register with us and see our current opportunities. Most portfolio CEO appointments are confidential and never advertised, so registering is the best way to be considered.

Related Services

Private Equity Recruitment | Portfolio Company CFO Recruitment | PE Chief Operating Officer Recruitment | Portfolio Company Executive Recruitment | Pre-Exit CEO Recruitment | PE Operating Partner Recruitment | Value Creation Executive Recruitment | The First 100 Days in Portco Hiring | Interim CEO for PE-Backed Firms | Fractional CEO for PE-Backed Firms | Managing Partner / Senior Partner Recruitment | PE Chief Investment Officer Recruitment | PE Partner / General Partner Recruitment | PE Associate Recruitment | PE Non-Executive Director Recruitment | Venture Capital Non-Executive Recruitment | CEO Recruitment | Private Equity Executive Search | Portfolio Company CEO Guide

Working with Exec Capital on a portfolio company CEO mandate

Every portfolio company CEO mandate is run by our specialist team, with Adrian Lawrence FCA overseeing each mandate. We work with GPs, operating partners, and portfolio company chairs directly — not through intermediaries — and we remain involved through the offer, negotiation, and onboarding process to support the GP and the incoming CEO as the relationship is established.

For the finance leadership appointment that typically accompanies a CEO change at deal completion, see our Portfolio Company CFO Recruitment page. For the operational leader who executes the value creation plan alongside the CEO, see our Portfolio Company COO Recruitment page.

If you are earlier in your thinking — deciding what kind of CEO the business needs, or whether the incumbent can grow into the role — our portfolio company CEO guide covers the role, the skills and the decisions in more depth.

Frequently asked questions

What is portfolio company CEO recruitment?

It is the search for the chief executive of a business owned or backed by a private equity investor. Unlike an ordinary CEO search, the brief comes from the investment case and the value creation plan, the investor is closely involved in selection, and the package usually includes sweet equity linked to the exit.

How is a portfolio company CEO different from a corporate CEO?

The portfolio CEO works to a defined hold period and a clear exit goal, reports to a board with investor directors, runs a business that usually carries acquisition debt, and is rewarded mainly through equity. The pace and the scrutiny of performance are higher, and the CEO is expected to think like an owner rather than an employee.

How much does a private equity portfolio company CEO earn?

It depends on the size of the business, the sector and the deal. The structure is usually a competitive base salary, an annual bonus tied to EBITDA and cash, and sweet equity, which is where most of the potential reward sits. Our CEO salary guide covers chief executive pay more broadly, and we advise on package levels for each search.

Who should be involved from the investor side?

Usually the deal partner or investment director who owns the investment, the operating partner if the firm has one, and the chair of the portfolio company. Agreeing at the start who interviews at each stage, and who makes the final decision, avoids delays later.

Should we appoint an interim CEO first?

Often, yes, when the incumbent leaves suddenly, the business needs stabilising, or the value creation plan is still being finalised. An interim keeps the business moving while the permanent search runs. See our interim CEO for PE-backed businesses page.

Can you assess the incumbent CEO against the market?

Yes. Investors sometimes want to know whether the existing CEO is the right person for the next phase before deciding to search. We can compare the incumbent with the profile the plan needs and against the candidates available, confidentially and without starting an open process.

How long does a portfolio company CEO search take?

It varies with the market for the profile, candidate notice periods, the investor’s approval process and any regulatory approval. We agree the timetable with you at briefing and run as much of the process in parallel as the situation needs. We do not offer guaranteed timescales.

What is sweet equity, and will candidates expect it?

Sweet equity is the management’s share of the equity value created above the investor’s return. Experienced PE-backed CEOs will expect a meaningful stake and will read the leaver terms closely. Our sweet equity guide explains how it works.

Do you only search for CEOs with PE experience?

No. Candidates with a PE-backed track record are the core of most shortlists, but step-up candidates and corporate operators can be the right answer, particularly for operational or carve-out theses. We assess each candidate’s readiness for the PE environment openly.

Do you work on a retained or contingent basis?

Portfolio company CEO searches are retained, with fees agreed at the outset. Interim and fractional CEO appointments are charged on a day-rate basis.

Recruit a Portfolio Company CEO with Exec Capital

Exec Capital recruits CEOs for PE-backed portfolio companies across the UK mid-market. Deal-completion, hold-period, and pre-exit mandates. Every search is run by our specialist team on a retained basis, with Adrian Lawrence FCA overseeing each mandate. For urgent requirements we agree a compressed timetable with you at briefing.

Investor-aligned

Brief, scorecard and assessment built around your value creation plan

All PE situations

Deal completion, hold period, turnaround, buy-and-build, and pre-exit mandates

Retained search

Run by our specialist team with Adrian Lawrence FCA overseeing each mandate — not contingency recruitment

Related Private Equity Appointments


Sources and Further Reading

PE firms appointing a portfolio company CEO may also require: Portfolio Company CFO | Portfolio Company COO | Value Creation Executive | Interim CEO | CEO Recruitment | All PE Executive Search

Related Private Equity Executive Search Services

Exec Capital places chief executives and senior leaders into PE-backed businesses on permanent, interim and fractional terms across the UK. Every search is run by our specialist team, with Adrian Lawrence FCA overseeing each mandate.

PRACTICE AREA

Private Equity Search


Leadership appointments across the investment cycle, from completion to exit.

→ Private Equity Executive Search

→ Pre-Exit CEO Recruitment


Portfolio company CEO guide →

PRACTICE AREA

Portfolio Leadership Team


The finance and operational leaders who deliver the value creation plan alongside the CEO.

→ Portfolio Company CFO Recruitment

→ Portfolio Company COO Recruitment


Sweet equity for PE management teams →

PRACTICE AREA

Interim and Fractional CEOs


CEO cover for sudden departures, turnarounds and smaller investments.

→ Interim CEO for PE-Backed Businesses

→ Fractional CEO


Fractional executives in PE-backed firms →

PRACTICE AREA

CEO and Board Search


Chief executive and chair appointments for boards outside a PE structure too.

→ CEO Recruitment

→ Chairman Recruitment


The first 100 days in portco hiring →


Every search is run by our specialist team, with Adrian Lawrence FCA overseeing each mandate.

About the author

Adrian Lawrence FCA is the founder of Exec Capital. He is a Chartered Accountant holding an ICAEW practising certificate in his own name, with more than 25 years’ experience operating at C-suite level. His background spans private equity-backed businesses, owner-managed companies and listed environments, giving Exec Capital a practitioner’s understanding of what senior leadership hires actually require. View Adrian’s ICAEW profile.

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