Buy-side carve-outs can create significant value for acquiring companies, but they can also present complex challenges. In this episode, we’re joined by Kameron Kordestani, Anna Mattson, and Rui Silva to discuss how leaders—particularly CFOs, integration managers, and CHROs—must balance financial structuring, operational planning, and people management to ensure a value-creating transition.

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The power of goodbye: How carve-outs can unleash value

Solving the carve-out conundrum

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Outperformance in private equity is no longer defined by leverage or multiple expansion; disciplined value creation will be the decisive factor in future investment success. In this episode, AD Bhatia, Robin Ligon, and Jason Phillips are joined by CVC’s John Kelleher to discuss the key shifts in today’s PE environment and share five moves firms are making in response. The path to transforming value creation requires a more disciplined playbook: structured re-diligence, holistic transformation under a dedicated transformation leadership, stronger operating-team talent, and the use of AI as a portfolio-wide accelerator.

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2026 Global Private Markets Report

How private equity is using M&A integrations to overcome headwinds

Beating the odds: How private equity firms can improve exit prospects

McKinsey Strategy and Corporate Finance on LinkedIn

McKinsey Transformation on LinkedIn

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For CEOs, the first 100 days often get the most attention. But the final chapter of a CEO’s tenure can be just as consequential. In this episode, senior partner Carolyn Dewar speaks with Charles Lowrey, former executive chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, about what it takes to finish strong and manage a successful leadership transition.

Lowrey reflects on his unexpected path to the CEO role, the lessons he learned while leading through the pandemic, and why he began discussing succession with the board before officially taking the job. He explains how Prudential developed internal candidates, planned the handover in detail, and worked to make the market’s reaction to the transition “a huge yawn.”

The conversation also explores the personal side of stepping away: preparing for life after the CEO role, avoiding the temptation to remain too involved, and finding new ways to contribute. For current and aspiring CEOs, Lowrey offers practical guidance on legacy, succession, and the discipline required to lead until the very end.

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A CEO For All Seasons: Mastering the Cycles of Leadership

CEO Excellence: The Six Mindsets That Distinguish the Best Leaders from the Rest

The Strategic CEO LinkedIn newsletter

Sending it forward: Successfully transitioning out of the CEO role

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