CAPABILITY · EXIT PREP

Exit prep, 18 months out.

Exit preparation for $20M–$200M founder-led operating companies — DTC and CPG brands selling to strategics or sponsors, multi-unit healthcare and hospitality platforms, manufacturing and resources operators. Most start exit prep too late; we come in 12–24 months before the planned sale, rebuild the financials, fix the operating story, and have the business ready before a buyer ever asks.

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01 / What we actually do

6 plays under one capability.

Exit Preparation is rarely one job. Engagements typically braid two or three sub-offers, led by the partner with the most relevant operating experience.

18-month exit calendar

Quarter-by-quarter roadmap of what to fix when. Capex, working capital, customer concentration, team — all sequenced.

Financial rebuild

Restate, reconcile, normalize. The numbers a buyer actually wants — not just GAAP-compliant but defensible under diligence.

Quality of earnings prep

Pre-empt the buy-side QoE. Identify the adjustments before they become negotiating leverage against you.

Operating story

Rebuild the narrative — what the business does, who it does it for, why it grows. The CIM starts with this work.

Team & key-person risk

Identify and de-risk founder-dependent functions. Document the playbook before a buyer asks who runs each function.

Pre-marketing diligence

Run a mock buy-side diligence on yourself 3 months before launch. Find what they will find. Fix it.

02 / Where this work shows up

Industries we apply exit preparation inside.

All industries

Consumer eCommerce Consumer CPG Operating Hospitality Operating Healthcare

03 / Partners who lead this

Three operators, not associates.

The partner who takes your first call is the partner in the room. We don't sell what we haven't run.

Practice lead MP

Matt Putra

Managing Partner, North America & Europe

Two-decade operator. 50+ DTC and CPG engagements including a dozen sell-side processes. Scaled brands through Shopify Plus, retail expansion, and inventory-led growth pressure tests. Leads the consumer practice and exit-prep across $20–$100M operating brands.

Senior partner SA

Sid Ahuja

Senior Partner

Capital markets and M&A background. Multi-unit specialist — hotel groups, dental and medical DSOs, real-estate operating cos, professional services firms, construction platforms. Leads sell-side processes and roll-up sequencing where unit economics are the deal. RevPAR, same-store and unit-economics rebuilds.

Senior partner AK

Ashutosh Kagali

Associate

Chartered Accountant and corporate finance specialist. Experience spans London Stock Exchange Group as Nordic controller, XF1 modeling SaaS and renewable energy projects, and Eightx leading strategic finance for CPG clients. Focuses on identifying operational gaps, department-level metric alignment, and custom decision-support modeling.

05 / Common questions

FAQ.

When should an operating company start exit prep?

12–24 months before the planned sale. Earlier is better — there is more to fix than founders expect.

What is the relationship between exit prep and M&A advisory?

Exit prep gets the house ready; M&A advisory runs the process. Most clients buy both. The same partner often leads both phases.

What is the typical EBITDA lift from exit prep?

Varies by starting condition. We see normalized-EBITDA increases of 15–35% on rebuilds that surface previously-buried add-backs.

What if we decide not to sell after exit prep?

The work makes the business better whether you sell or not. Many clients keep the new financial discipline and run for another five years.

Which partner leads exit prep engagements?

Typically Matt Putra for consumer brands, Sid Ahuja for operating and multi-unit businesses, Leandro D'Elia for resources and capex-heavy.

Start a conversation

Talk to the partner who leads Exit Preparation.

Book a working session partners@putraco.com