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Consulting for Private Equity
An operator’s read before close. A steady hand after it.
M&A integration for sponsors buying, backing or building property management platforms: diligence the data room can’t give you, a disciplined first 100 days, and the clients and people kept.
Recurring revenue is only as durable as the client relationships, people and systems behind it.
Before close
What the data room won’t show you.
An operator’s read on the risks that decide how much of the revenue you keep.
Relationship risk
Who really holds each top client, and whether that relationship survives the close.
Key-person risk
The managers the business can’t lose, and what it will take to keep them.
Service quality
Response times, owner sentiment and the issues that never reach a report.
Agreement terms
Assignment, notice and termination terms that shape retention, flagged for your counsel.
Day-one readiness
The systems, SOPs and accounting practices that must work the morning after close.
True cost to integrate
The people, systems and time integration will really take, before you price it.
Greg De Rubeis has spent more than 20 years in real estate. Most recently he was Executive Vice President of Real Estate and Designated Officer at a premier Los Angeles-based property management firm, where the portfolio grew from about 2,300 to more than 8,000 residential units and nearly 3 million commercial square feet on his watch.
He oversaw the integration of 12 acquisitions and led more than 30 corporate staff and 130 resident managers. He knows what an integration looks like from the inside, where clients and people decide whether to stay.
- 8,000+residential units
- ~3Mcommercial sq. ft.
- 12acquisitions integrated
- 160+people led
Figures describe Greg’s roles before founding Meritas, not Meritas results.
Questions worth asking
Before your next acquisition closes.
The answers decide what the platform is worth.
- The deal is priced on revenue. Its value depends on who stays.
- Integrations rarely fail in the purchase agreement. They fail in the details nobody owns on day one.
- If the founder steps back, which clients follow?
- Do the best people know where they fit after close?
- Who tells the clients, and in what order?
- Is the platform ready for the next add-on, or only the last one?
From first look to platform
Buy with clarity. Integrate with care. Keep the clients and the people.
Each phase hands more ownership to the operating team, so every add-on runs better than the last.
Pre-close read
Operational diligence, people and client risk, and the real cost to integrate.
The first 100 days
Announcement sequence, day-one readiness and early-warning reads.
Leadership & structure
Roles, reporting lines and incentives for the combined team.
Add-on playbook
A repeatable integration playbook the operating team owns.
How we engage
Shaped around the deal.
Scoped to what is at stake. Involvement can change as the work does.
Situational advisory
On call
A sounding board for the deal team and operating leadership at the moments that decide an outcome.
Stabilization advisory
Alongside
Weekly sessions, scorecard reviews and time on site while the operating team carries the load.
Integration advisory
In the room
On site with leadership: meeting both teams, leading key conversations, shaping the plan.
What you receive
Clear, written and yours to keep.
- A pre-close operational read: service, people, clients and integration cost
- A day-one and announcement plan, with client letters and team talking points
- A client and key-staff retention map: who needs a call, and from whom
- A monthly integration scorecard: retention, response times and open issues
Engagements are confidential. We never name clients without permission.
Questions
About consulting for private equity
What does an integration advisor do in a property management acquisition?
Helps the acquiring team plan and run the combination of two property management businesses. That includes the announcement sequence, client and staff communications, day-one readiness, and the early months when clients and key employees decide whether to stay.
When should an integration advisor be involved?
Ideally before close. Many of the most consequential choices are made in the weeks before closing, such as how and when clients and staff hear the news, what must be right on day one and who leads the acquired team. Involvement can also start after close, when early warning signs appear.
Can you support a buy-and-build strategy?
Yes. After the first integration, the work becomes a repeatable playbook for the add-ons that follow, owned by the operating team.
How are engagements structured?
As an ongoing advisory relationship or a defined project, scoped to the deal and confirmed in writing before work begins. We discuss fees after an initial conversation.
Do you also work with property management firms and owners?
Yes, through Consulting for Property Management Firms and Owner Advisory. If a conflict of interest exists, we disclose it before any work begins.
One-on-one
Talk it through before the next close.
Tell us about the platform and the deal in front of you. You’ll speak with Greg directly.