Successful Exit Through Collaboration

Kevin Fleming is a Partner at Newport LLC, a business advisory firm helping middle-market companies grow and exit. He is also a Chief Financial Officer and board member at ThinkBio.AI, an AI technology enablement firm. With experience as a CEO and President of middle-market companies, Kevin has held leadership roles at Ernst and Young, Paradigm Management Services, and Loyale Healthcare, working with Fortune 500 companies.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
• [0:00] Introduction
• [2:49] How Kevin Fleming became involved with Loyale Healthcare and transitioned from CFO to CEO
• [6:09] Kevin explains how he improved negative cash flow at Loyale
• [8:56] Recognizing commoditization in the market and strategizing for competitive advantage
• [19:09] Best practices for middle-market companies partnering with large corporations
• [22:46] How to evaluate cultural fit and values alignment in strategic partnerships
• [26:56] The decision to exit Loyale and how Kevin helped time the sale
• [32:38] Advice for protecting employee interests during post-acquisition integration
• [36:36] Kevin’s lessons about the middle-market business lifecycle

In this episode…

Scaling a business in a commoditized industry is a challenge for many middle-market firms lacking the scale of larger corporations. Founders can struggle to differentiate their offerings, build sustainable growth, and determine when or how to exit. How can companies transform their business model and stay competitive while navigating disruption and preparing for a sale?

Turnaround CEO Kevin Fleming has revitalized a struggling healthcare company from growth to exit. He emphasizes challenging traditional business models, like fixed processing fees, and leveraging innovation to create a meaningful financial impact. Kevin also recommends reimagining customer engagement through unified billing and tailored communications. To stay competitive, companies can leverage high-value partnerships, facilitate cultural alignment, and time exits based on market conditions.

In this episode of Growth + Exit, Heather Bennett sits down with Kevin Fleming, a Partner at Newport LLC, to discuss turning around a failing business in a commoditized market. Kevin shares how to increase enterprise value through strategic transformation, the importance of strong customer experiences, and how to prepare for a smooth and profitable exit.

Resources mentioned in this episode:
• Heather Bennett on LinkedIn -   / heather-h-bennett  
• Susan Kearney on LinkedIn -   / susanpkearney  
• Newport LLC - https://newportllc.com
• Kevin Fleming on LinkedIn -   / kevin-fleming-255a1811  

Sponsor for this episode...
This episode is brought to you by Newport LLC, a national business advisory firm.

Newport is a team of over 50 seasoned C-suite executives who have founded, built, bought, and sold businesses. We help CEOs of privately held companies achieve exceptional value quickly and with less risk.

We use our proprietary Value Acceleration Program — a set of research-based tools and methodologies — to help growth-stage businesses build and sustain value.

To work with us, visit https://newportllc.com/.