Melisa Guerbi — For private equity
Most value-creation plans assume the talent will hold. I make sure it does — from diligence through exit, with the numbers to prove it.
5
Acquisitions integrated
2000+
Employees transitioned
90%
Talent retention post-close
$4.7M+
EBITDA improvement
Any of these costs more than the fix.
Operating experience inside a PE portfolio — not advisory from the outside. I've sat on the deal team side and run the integrations myself.
Pre-close
Leadership assessment, retention risk mapping, comp liabilities, and cultural red flags — surfaced before they're priced into your surprise, not after. You get a people findings memo that reads like the rest of the deal book.
Post-close
Integration run as a plan with owners and dates: key-talent retention, org design, comms sequencing, and the quick wins that signal competence to a nervous workforce.
Hold period
Talent as an EBITDA lever — turnover cost taken out, hiring engines built for the growth plan, leadership benches that don't require external rescues. Instrumented so the board sees it quarterly.
Pre-exit
An org that diligences well: clean comp structures, documented succession, retention locked for the transition. People strength becomes part of the equity story, not a disclosure risk.
People diligence and 100-day integration on a single transaction. Scoped, priced, and timed to your deal calendar.
Fractional people leadership across portfolio companies — one operating partner for talent instead of five inconsistent HR functions.
One portco with a people problem that's showing up in the numbers. I diagnose, fix, and hand back a system.
The next conversation
Thirty minutes. Bring your hardest people problem — I'll bring a way to measure it.