Who we work with
Most of the value in a mid-size company is created or lost in operations: in what it charges, what it sells, how it is run and who runs it.
Paragonum works on that layer, in businesses that are performing below their potential, changing hands, or moving from their founders to professional management.
Selected cases
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62% IRR
Consumer finance intermediary
A loss-making business returned to profit and sold.
- Net result
- −€0.4M to €0.9M
- Revenue
- Tripled in four years
- Exit
- Sold in 2018
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€50M group P&L
Regional insurer, top fifteen in its market
Full P&L and board responsibility across three markets.
- Revenue
- €50M
- Net profit
- €12M
- Customers
- 700,000+ in three markets
-
×4.5 net income
Consumer lending platform
A platform with profit flat for three years, taken over from its founders and sold.
- Net income
- €1.2M to €5.4M in under two years
- Revenue
- +86%
- Exit
- Sold at 6× EBITDA
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Interim CEO
AI software company
Operational turnaround ahead of a strategic review.
- Deployment cost
- −50% across 50+ sites
- Deployment time
- 30 days to 5
- Fundraising
- Run end to end
Where we work
Before the deal
An operational view of the business before the investment decision: whether it can be fixed, where value is trapped, and whether the plan will survive contact with the company.
Founder transitions
The move from founder-led to professionally run: succession, a new leadership structure, and a founder who remains a shareholder.
The first year
The first hundred days and the year after acquisition: price, revenue mix, cost structure and the commercial discipline behind them.
Stalled performance
Businesses where growth has stopped or margin has drifted, usually with more capability inside than the results suggest.
Entering Spain
Portfolio companies building a presence in Spain. Our managing partner built a business in Spain from zero: partnerships with lenders and major retail groups, expansion to four European markets and €97.9M of GMV.
Engagements take the form of advisory work, interim leadership or board roles, shaped to the situation.
Approach
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Diagnosis before the plan.
The diagnosis handed over at the start is usually right about the symptom and wrong about the cause. The first weeks are spent finding the second.
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Price and mix before cost.
Price realisation and revenue mix move net profit faster and further than cost reduction, and they leave the company with its capacity intact.
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The team in place first.
Most underperforming companies have more capability than results. The first move is to organise what is already there; changes come later, and only where they are needed.
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Decisions before outcomes.
We commit to the decisions that will be taken and when. Numbers are committed once the diagnosis is real.
Contact
For a conversation about a specific company or situation: