The conversation I have most often with PE operating partners goes something like this: "We know the portfolio company has strong technology, good customer relationships, and a solid brand — but when we sit down with prospective buyers, none of that shows up in the numbers." The assets that drove the investment thesis in the first place become invisible at the point where they matter most: exit.
This is not an information problem. It is a measurement problem. And it is precisely the problem the Opagio growth platform was built to solve.
Every PE operating partner understands the hold period playbook: acquire a business, invest in operational improvements, grow revenue and EBITDA, and exit at a higher multiple. The challenge is that many of the most valuable improvements made during the hold period — building a proprietary technology platform, expanding the customer base, developing a recognisable brand, training a high-performing team — are intangible assets that never appear on the balance sheet.
When a prospective buyer runs their due diligence model, they see EBITDA, revenue growth, and margin expansion. What they do not see is the structured evidence for why those numbers improved and whether the drivers are durable. The result is a valuation gap: the buyer discounts what they cannot measure, and the seller loses value they cannot demonstrate.
The assets that drove your hold-period value creation — technology, brand, customer relationships, data — are often the assets buyers discount most heavily at exit, because no one has made them visible and measurable.
This pattern is not unique to any one sector. I have seen it in professional services firms where the client book is the primary asset, in SaaS companies where the technology platform is the value driver, and in consumer brands where the brand equity alone justifies a premium multiple.
The Opagio growth platform provides three core capabilities that map directly to the PE exit preparation workflow: identification, valuation, and positioning. Each uses a different part of the platform, and together they produce the structured intangible asset evidence that prospective buyers need to justify a higher multiple.
The first step in The Opagio Method is Discover. For PE exit preparation, this means using the Intangible Asset Valuator to systematically map every intangible asset the portfolio company holds.
The Valuator's taxonomy covers 7 categories and 35 individual asset types, from brand names and customer contracts to proprietary algorithms and assembled workforce. For each asset type, the tool provides descriptions, value drivers, and critical assumptions — so that operating partners and CFOs can work through the full portfolio without missing assets that buyers would identify during due diligence.
A mid-market SaaS company preparing for exit might identify 12-15 distinct intangible assets across the taxonomy: the core software platform (Technology-Based), three customer contract cohorts (Customer-Related), the brand and domain name (Marketing-Related), six key employment contracts (Contract-Based), the assembled engineering team (Human Capital), and two proprietary data sets (Data & Digital). Without a structured taxonomy, 4-5 of these would typically be missed in pre-exit preparation.
Once the asset portfolio is mapped, the next step is to assign defensible economic values. The Opagio platform provides six valuation calculators, each implementing a methodology compliant with FASB ASC 805/820 and OECD Transfer Pricing guidelines:
| Method | Best For | PE Exit Application |
|---|---|---|
| Relief from Royalty (RFR) | Brand, patents, software, IP | Quantify what a buyer would pay to license these assets |
| Multi-Period Excess Earnings (MPEEM) | Customer relationships, contracts | Isolate earnings attributable to the customer base |
| Replacement Cost | Software, databases, workforce | Demonstrate what it would cost a buyer to recreate from scratch |
| With-and-Without (W&W) | Non-compete agreements, network effects | Show the economic impact of removing the asset |
| Greenfield | Franchise agreements, brands | Model building the business with only this asset |
| Market Approach | Licences, domain names | Benchmark against comparable transactions |
Each calculator produces an Excel workbook with transparent assumptions, calculation methodology, and auditable outputs. This is critical for PE exits: the buyer's due diligence team needs to be able to verify and stress-test every valuation, not receive a black-box number.
The choice of valuation method matters. Using the wrong method for an asset type — for example, applying Relief from Royalty to customer relationships when MPEEM is more appropriate — will undermine credibility with sophisticated buyers. The Valuator recommends the applicable methods for each of the 35 asset types.
The final stage is where measurement becomes commercial advantage. Having identified and valued the intangible asset portfolio, the operating partner can now construct a data-backed exit narrative that connects intangible assets to the financial outcomes buyers care about.
The Opagio Productivity Calculator plays a critical role here. It converts six standard financial inputs — revenue, purchases, labour costs, and capital costs — into GVA, EBITDA, and Total Factor Productivity metrics that reveal the underlying productivity dynamics of the business.
For PE exits, this means being able to demonstrate not just that EBITDA grew by 40% during the hold period, but why it grew: which intangible investments drove which productivity improvements, and whether those improvements are structural and durable rather than cyclical or one-off.
Opagio enables PE firms to move from "EBITDA grew 40% during our hold period" to "EBITDA grew 40%, driven by three measurable intangible assets — a proprietary technology platform valued at £X via RFR, a customer base with £Y in excess earnings via MPEEM, and a brand worth £Z — all of which are durable and defensible." The second statement justifies a higher multiple because it reduces the buyer's uncertainty about what is driving performance.
To make this concrete, here is how an operating partner would use the platform across a typical 6-month exit preparation timeline:
Use the Intangible Asset Valuator taxonomy to map all 35 asset types. Identify which assets the portfolio company holds, which are most valuable, and which have been enhanced during the hold period. This produces the intangible asset register — the starting point for all subsequent work.
Run each identified asset through the appropriate valuation calculator. Focus on the 3-5 assets most likely to influence the exit multiple. Produce Excel workbooks with transparent assumptions for each.
Use the Productivity Calculator to model the portfolio company's GVA, EBITDA, and TFP across the hold period. Map productivity improvements to specific intangible asset investments. Build the "why" narrative behind the financial performance.
Assemble the intangible asset evidence pack: asset register, individual valuations, productivity analysis, and the narrative connecting them. Stress-test assumptions against likely buyer questions. Prepare sensitivity analyses for key valuation drivers.
Present the intangible asset portfolio as part of the management presentation. Provide the evidence pack to the buyer's due diligence team. The structured, auditable format reduces friction and builds confidence — which translates directly to faster deal completion and higher multiples.
The relationship between intangible asset visibility and exit multiples is straightforward: buyers pay more for what they can verify, and discount what they cannot.
A business that can demonstrate a proprietary technology platform valued at £2.5M via Relief from Royalty, a customer base generating £1.8M in excess earnings via MPEEM, and a brand contributing £900K annually — with all assumptions transparent and auditable — gives the buyer confidence that the premium they are paying reflects durable competitive advantages.
Contrast this with a business that says "we have great technology and strong customer relationships" but provides no structured evidence. The buyer's response is predictable: apply a conservative multiple and protect their downside.
Intangible asset visibility does not create value that was not there before. It surfaces value that was always there but could not be measured. For PE exits, this is the difference between selling a business on its financial history and selling it on its structural competitive position.
Research consistently shows that intangible assets account for 60-70% of firm value in modern economies. In technology-intensive sectors, the figure is higher still. Yet most exit processes treat these assets as qualitative factors at best — mentioned in the management presentation but absent from the valuation model.
The intangible asset exit preparation process sits at the intersection of the operating partner, the portfolio company CFO, and the deal team. In my experience, the most effective approach assigns clear ownership:
The operating partner drives the strategic narrative — which intangible assets were enhanced during the hold period, how they connect to EBITDA growth, and what the exit story should be. The CFO owns the financial rigour — running the valuation calculators, stress-testing assumptions, and ensuring the numbers withstand due diligence scrutiny. The deal team integrates the intangible asset evidence into the Information Memorandum and data room.
The Opagio platform supports all three roles. The Valuator's taxonomy and calculators give the CFO the analytical tools. The Productivity Calculator gives the operating partner the narrative framework. And the Excel exports give the deal team the auditable documentation.
The Opagio Intangible Asset Valuator and Productivity Calculator are both free to use with no sign-up required. For PE firms preparing a portfolio company for exit, the recommended starting point is a full taxonomy walkthrough using the Valuator — which typically takes 45-60 minutes and produces a comprehensive intangible asset register that serves as the foundation for everything that follows.
For firms that want a more structured engagement, Opagio offers advisory sessions where our team works alongside the operating partner and CFO to build the complete intangible asset evidence pack. Contact us to discuss your exit timeline.
Mark Hillier is Co-Founder & CCO of Opagio. He has over 30 years' experience helping businesses scale and prepare for successful PE exits, having advised institutional clients including Legal & General, AEW UK Investment Management, and Salmon Harvester. Meet the team →
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