In January 2026, Mayfair Equity Partners hosted a forum for CFOs and finance professionals at our portfolio companies and hosted by Mayfair’s Finance Function Specialists Carly Bleathman and Jo Huddleston, Exit Readiness Specialist Chris Morris, and Associate Director Abbie Robus.
Why buyer thinking is really about operational excellence and leadership confidence
CFOs in private equity-backed businesses spend years building growth plans, upgrading systems and delivering performance improvements. But when it matters most, value is often determined by something far simpler: credibility.
At Mayfair’s CFO Summit, the conversation repeatedly came back to buyers paying for the confidence that comes from operational excellence, clean data and leadership alignment.
Founders often resist partners who appear too focused on selling, but buyer thinking, done properly, is not about timing a transaction. It is about building a business that stands up to external scrutiny whenever that scrutiny arrives.
“Buyer thinking isn’t about exit. It’s about building a business that can prove what it claims.”
Over the past decade due diligence has become more forensic. Segmentation is deeper, KPI expectations are higher and quality of earnings work is more detailed. The businesses that succeed are those that treat this as normal rather than exceptional.
For CFOs, this is a call to professionalise early. The goal is not to have perfect systems on day one, but to build a pathway to best-in-class fundamentals including reconciliations, balance sheet discipline, consistent treatment of exceptionals and an ability to explain trends without scrambling.
“In today’s market, the basics are not basic. They’re differentiators.”
Many deals do not derail because of strategy but because of doubt created by numbers that do not reconcile, by inconsistencies between management’s story and the underlying data, or by unclear explanations of performance. If the CFO cannot confidently explain the data, what else might be misunderstood?
“A buyer doesn’t need perfection. They need belief that the leadership team is in control.”
Mayfair’s partnership model is built around embedded preparation. Through finance maturity assessments and structured exit readiness processes, Mayfair supports CFOs in strengthening the business gradually, well before the intensity of a process begins.
It is about ensuring the underlying fundamentals are genuinely best-in-class and built to last. When a business is run with discipline, credibility becomes a natural by-product.
The most valuable mindset shift for CFOs is recognising that diligence is not a separate world, it is an operational reality under a microscope. If reporting processes are strong then diligence becomes a validation exercise, rather than a forensic investigation.
“If your data is strong, diligence becomes confirmation, not interrogation.”
Another theme at the Summit was that credibility is not only financial. Buyers are underwriting the management team’s ability to deliver. The CEO, CFO and commercial leadership must be aligned on the same narrative and the same numbers, articulating performance consistently, especially on the metrics that matter most to future growth: retention, pipeline conversion, cohort behaviour, revenue visibility, margin expansion and scalability.
“Consistency is the currency of credibility. Everyone in the room needs to tell the same story.”
This is why preparation must be embedded early; it can’t be built in the final months of a process. Mayfair encourages CFOs to think about their equity story as something living, not something written by advisors at the end. The strongest teams embed elements of that story into their board packs, using a small number of repeatable KPIs to track progress against strategic pillars.
“If your equity story isn’t measurable, it isn’t real.”
The best businesses reduce operational friction and can respond quickly to questions because the information is already structured, owned and accessible. Data rooms are not assembled at speed, models are not built in isolation, and historical normalisation is not done retrospectively – it is all maintained as part of the operating cadence.
“Readiness is not speed. Readiness is calm.”
For management teams, the payoff is not only a smoother process, but also a better-run business, the most positive framing of the journey. A sponsor’s role is not to rush the business towards an exit, but to prepare it for a more exciting chapter when that time comes.
“The best outcomes come when the business is strong enough that the next chapter feels like an upgrade, not an ending.”
The CFO Forum was part of Boost!, Mayfair’s networking and development programme, designed to spark collaboration across our portfolio, strengthen connections, and equip management teams with practical tools and insights. Through a series of curated events, Boost! aims to unlock potential by empowering individuals, adding value to businesses, and shaping the digital leaders of tomorrow.
