Portfolio CFO Bulletin - June
Bronzegate
Elevating private equity backed portfolio companies through exceptional CFO and finance leadership appointments.
Welcome to our monthly newsletter for CFOs working in Private Equity backed businesses. This month we have a market update from Kieran Clyde, Interim Management Principal, insights from Accordion and more from Bronzegate.
Market trends:
Demand Grows for Strategic Interim Finance Support
Kieran Clyde, Principal at Bronzegate, provides an overview of the finance leader trends midway through 2025.
Across the CFO-1 landscape, demand for stronger forecasting, reporting, and planning capabilities has grown significantly this quarter. At Bronzegate, we’re seeing an increase in both permanent and interim mandates placed to enhance the strategic output of the finance function, particularly in mid and large-cap Private Equity-backed businesses.
This shift is being driven by heightened pressure to deliver clearer, faster, and more actionable financial insight. As Bain & Company’s latest report highlights, “The value of deals announced in April was 24% below the monthly average for the first quarter of 2025, while deal count was down 22%.” With fewer deals taking place, attention has turned inward, internal value creation has become the top priority and CFOs are under greater scrutiny to provide financial, operational data that underpins informed, proactive decision-making.
Case study:
Interim CFO to lead Cost Reduction Programme
The challenge: To introduce an interim CFO to lead a cost reduction programme at a leading large-cap Private Equity (PE) backed equipment leasing business. The business required a hands-on CFO who could quickly get to grips with the numbers and reduce unnecessary spend under investor scrutiny.
Our approach: Our network-first approach meant we were able to respond quickly, engaging individuals we had already assessed for similar mandates. We focused on candidates with strong experience in cost optimisation within PE-backed businesses. Sector alignment was a priority, and we engaged finance leaders familiar with asset-heavy business models where clear visibility of cost and margin is critical.
Outcome: The business appointed a seasoned interim CFO with a strong track record in PE environments and cost-focused transformation work. They joined within two weeks of first meeting the investor and began making changes to the cost base immediately.
Insights:
The CFO’s cash conundrum: Four steps for accessing cash through working capital optimisation.
In today’s tight funding environment, working capital optimisation is fast becoming a strategic imperative for Private Equity CFOs. According to Accordion, half of sponsors believe their Portfolio CFOs are falling short on this front. With external financing more expensive and harder to secure, the focus has shifted inward, to unlocking liquidity already tied up in the business.
In the lead-up to our webinar The PE CFO’s Cash Flow Conundrum, we’re highlighting this timely piece from Accordion. It outlines four practical steps for turning working capital into immediate cash - from leveraging real-time data to embedding a ‘cash culture’ across the organisation. A valuable read for those navigating the pressures of capital constraints and value creation.
Hear more on this topic directly from Jeff Goltara, Managing Director at Accordion and Bronzegate’s Managing Partner, Adam Akbar in our live session later this month.
About Bronzegate
Bronzegate is the largest team in Europe exclusively focused on delivering finance leadership talent to Private Equity backed companies.
Our Finance, M&A and Strategy interim practice, works closely with Portfolio CFO’s to develop their team structures and capabilities.
Kieran Price and Kieran Clyde lead our well-established permanent and interim practice, sourcing CFOs and Director level finance & strategy talent to support Private Equity CFOs. The practice includes delivering exceptional interim FP&A leaders, Group Controllers, Regional / Divisional CFOs and Heads of M&A to portfolio businesses across the UK and Europe.