Guest article: Lynda Dupont-Blackshaw
Those immersed in professional services can’t have failed to notice that the trickle of private equity investment has become a flood. UK law firms alone have attracted over £1.18 billion since 2019, with a record £534 million in 2024. Yet today, capital chases more than just strong numbers. Investors are drawn to businesses with a compelling purpose, a trusted reputation, and the ability to grow without losing their identity. Questions such as “What does this firm stand for? Will it maintain trust with stakeholders? Can it scale successfully?” are now as critical as financial performance. With competition for private equity accelerating, businesses must show that their brand is robust, differentiated, and able to articulate its equity clearly.
Why a strong brand wins attention
Private equity investors look far beyond EBITDA and cost structures. They are drawn to brands with a strong reputation, deep stakeholder trust, and agility to expand without compromising identity. For CEOs, this is critical: a robust brand reduces investment risk, strengthens client confidence, and underpins sustainable growth.
Take Grant Thornton UK, which agreed to a majority-stake sale to Cinven in 2024. Its brand wasn’t just a footnote; it was a differentiator. Both firms cited Grant Thornton’s strong reputation, quality of service, and culture as key factors, alongside growth potential and trusted market position. Its clear identity and consistent values helped command investor confidence and a premium valuation.
Baker Tilly Netherlands provides another example. The firm secured a minority investment from Inflexion, supported by consistent growth and sustained investment in innovation, digitalisation, and service quality. Its strong reputation and defined identity gave investors confidence in its ability to scale while maintaining culture and client experience. The result was not just funding but a partnership recognising and reinforcing brand strength.
And the numbers tell a clear story. PE-backed law firms are pulling ahead, growing revenues around 30% over two years—twice the pace of the UK’s top 50 firms. Investors are not just chasing financial performance; they are drawn to firms with a strong, recognisable brand.
Across professional services, 27% of accounting firms have secured PE backing, 19% are open to it, and 86% have been approached*. A firm with a strong brand doesn’t just attract clients – it attracts capital. In a crowded market, a well-managed brand is not a nice-to-have; it is what makes investors take notice.
How CMOs make brands investment-ready
In my experience, private equity houses care far more about brand than leaders often realise. Once the brand questions start to roll, it quickly becomes clear they aren’t innocuous – they are strategic, and they need a professional to answer them. CMOs are often brought in quickly, sometimes hastily, but once at the table, their role is pivotal. They must both assess the brand impact of a potential investment—supporting due diligence for the firm and its stakeholders—and showcase the best of the brand, demonstrating its full value to help secure the most favourable deal.
A structured audit is at the heart of preparing a brand for investment. By surveying clients and stakeholders to understand perceptions, benchmarking against competitors to identify opportunities, and evaluating brand visibility across markets and channels, CMOs make brand health visible and actionable, directly influencing both the attractiveness of the firm and the value investors see.
The audit also identifies alignment with strategic objectives and growth potential, highlighting strengths that appeal to investors and pinpointing areas to strengthen for post-investment integration.
Post-deal brand integration: More than a logo
For a CMO, post-investment brand work is where intensity begins. Mergers, acquisitions, or network alignments don’t just combine businesses; they combine identities, cultures, and ways of working. It’s far more than a logo or name. It’s aligning values, tone of voice, and brand strategy across the organisation, while carefully timing and tailoring communications to clients, partners, and employees. The CMO sits at the heart of this complex orchestration, ensuring brand integrity and the firm’s reputation remain intact.
In 2024, Forvis Mazars merged Mazars’ international network with Forvis in the U.S., creating a $5 billion global brand. A new Global Network Board now oversees consistency in client delivery, governance, and values across 100+ countries. Choosing a single, unified identity – Forvis Mazars – wasn’t just a branding decision; it was a bold statement of ambition, grounded in culture and alignment at every level.
Back in the UK, Evelyn Partners provides another example. After its sale to Apax Partners, it rebranded to S&W, reflecting its historic identity as Smith & Williamson. This was no cosmetic change: leadership structures were overhauled, the market narrative sharpened, and communications carefully coordinated to demonstrate how the firm would achieve its growth ambitions. Brand integration post-investment can involve both separation and renewal – and it’s here that CMOs make their most tangible impact
Lessons for CMOs leading the way
Brand readiness is no longer an afterthought in private equity deals. It plays a key role in valuation, shaping deal terms and underpinning long-term success. For CMOs, the mandate is clear: conduct a comprehensive brand audit, align strategy with investor expectations, plan integration early, and communicate with authenticity and precision. By doing so, marketing leaders safeguard brand reputation while maximising the return on investment.
The businesses that succeed in private equity aren’t just financially strong – they are brand strong. Behind every brand-ready business is a CMO working in lockstep with the CEO and CFO, ensuring that brand strategy complements financial goals and the business vision.
Lynda Dupont-Blackshaw, former Global CMO at Crowe, is a senior strategic leader advising some of the world’s leading professional services firms on brand and marketing strategy. Experienced in global transformation initiatives that strengthen brand equity and safeguard reputation.
A chartered marketing professional with a background in financial strategy, Lynda specialises in navigating complex business environments and helping organisations harness brand and business strategy to drive growth. She serves on multiple boards and committees and mentors emerging marketing leaders.
Lynda Dupont-Blackshaw is the former Global CMO at Crowe and a senior strategic leader advising some of the world’s leading professional services firms on brand and marketing strategy.