Where does value creation come from? A better question might be “From whom?”
Ronald A. Williams, former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Aetna Inc., the insurance provider, has witnessed firsthand how private equity can transform and create value in portfolio companies.
Mr. Williams is currently an advisor to Clayton, Dubilier and Rice, a role he took on after serving as CEO and Chairman of Aetna. He now serves as Chairman of Envision Healthcare, Healogics and PharMEDium (all portfolio companies of CD&R).
In a recent piece in Forbes, he reflected that as a CEO and previous outsider to the private equity industry, he would discover that his new private equity colleagues “provide the executive talent, scalable processes and strategic perspective necessary for portfolio companies to live up to their opportunities.”
“It turned out to be a natural fit. I could continue doing what I’d been doing: bringing my experience to bear to ensure that business potential was fully realized,” he stated.
Mr. Williams contends that with a class of aging executives throughout the Fortune 500 approaching retirement, many of them will be well-suited to share their experience to the next generation of business leaders via the private equity model. He states that private equity “does not just provide capital and ideas – it harnesses business experience and insight in order to create value.”