Organizational diligence for private equity
Verify the organization behind your investment thesis.
Portant tests whether the work implied by the plan has an identified organization, capacity, and cost base behind it in 72 hours.
CIM + buyer's thesis assumptions
Role mismatch
Capacity assumption
Structure. Headcount. People costs.
Organizational Diligence Findings
Decision memo + working readout
What gets tested
The plan adds work. Who will do it?
Illustrative example. Not client work.
Operating plan
Staffing schedule
The plan adds work. The schedule does not identify who absorbs it.
The people-cost forecast may not include the resources required.
What you receive
A decision memo traced to source
Illustrative example. Not client work.
Organizational Diligence Findings
- Finding
- Expansion capacity is not supported by the staffing schedule.
- Evidence reviewed
- Operating plan and headcount schedule.
- What the documents show
- Added activity without identified staffing capacity.
- Why it matters
- Additional people costs may be missing from the forecast.
- Question for the deal team
- What evidence supports delivery without additional resources?
- Evidence limit
- Capacity has not been validated with management.
See the finding, its evidence, and the decision it affects.
How it works
Three stages. One delivery clock.
- 01
Confirm the pack
A free completeness screen confirms your documents can support the review. Receiving files alone does not start the clock.
- 02
Test the assumptions
The 72-hour clock starts on a Monday or Tuesday, once the pack is confirmed. It runs 72 consecutive hours. No weekend delivery.
- 03
Deliver findings and readout
You get the decision memo and a completed 60-minute readout inside the window. Start and delivery timestamps are sent in writing before the clock begins.
Who does the work
Sakita Douglas has held three CHRO and CPO roles, including two in PE-backed platforms, and owned an executive-search practice. For more than 20 years she has reconciled organization structures, staffing plans, and people-cost models against how the business actually runs. This experience comes from prior operating roles, not completed Portant client engagements.
FAQ
Questions deal teams ask
Scope, confidentiality, timing, and guarantee
Scope
Portant tests structure, reporting relationships, headcount, capacity assumptions, and people costs. It does not assess named executives or employees, and it is not software, recruiting, a leadership assessment, or an organizational redesign engagement.
Confidentiality
Documents are shared only after an NDA and transfer arrangements are in place. Use position IDs and remove direct employee identifiers before transfer.
Timing
The engagement runs for 72 consecutive clock hours, not business days. The clock starts only on a Monday or Tuesday, once the complete data pack is received and confirmed. A Monday start means a Thursday delivery. A Tuesday start means a Friday delivery. Packs received Wednesday through Sunday are scheduled for the following Monday. You receive exact start and delivery timestamps in writing before the clock begins. The 72-hour window covers the decision package and the 60-minute readout.
Guarantee
Findings are traced to source documents with a confidence level and any data limitations. If the documents cannot support defensible findings, the stress test does not begin. Portant does not guarantee a financial result or a delivery-time penalty.
Next step
Know which organizational and people-cost assumptions hold up before you commit. Book a call to confirm fit and which documents you hold.