PE offer
I have been interviewing with a number of mid to large cap PE houses c. $500 to $1.5bn equity investments, all opportunities sourced through headhunters.
Around 3.5 weeks ago I was told by the recruiter I was the only candidate remaining in one of the processes, and that the PE house in question were very keen to finalise the process.
Almost a month now since the initial communication. Still no offer.
I have had communication with the recruiter every few days since that point and each time I have been told, "[PE House] want to recruit you, there is no one else in the process, however they are flat out on a number of transactions at the moment and have no visibility on timing". I have not had any further direct communication with the PE house.
I know when you are flat out on a deal it is tough to prioritise other things, but should it really take a month?
Is this common?
The communication with the head hunter is unchanged, so do I:
a) contact a senior member at the PE house by phone to see what is going on;
b) contact a senior member at the PE house by email to see what is going on;
c) continue to push the recruiter; or
d) do nothing/ wait.
Thanks
They're slower than banking, trust me - going through the same thing.
Congrats on having multiple interviews. I would email the PE house and get clarification on timing.
a) contact a senior member at the PE house by phone to see what is going on would be the quickest.
Thanks for the quick responses.
My primary concern is that I could annoy the PE House if they have been in regular contact with the headhunter (saying the same thing each time), or that I could damage the relationship with the headhunter by going behind their back directly to the PE house (and potentially then jeopordise the offer).
In your opinion, do you think these are genuine concerns or should I stop overthinking it and just make the call?
I'm at a rather small PE shop, so keep that in mind, but the situation unfolding for you seems to be fairly typical. We had a principal level guy leave in December and we didn't replace him until almost August.
Initially, we weren't sure if we needed to add someone given we weren't super busy. Then we talked about at what level. Bring in a more senior deal originator, or someone to work on the junior side? We eventually decided to bring in a more junior person because I was contemplating leaving for business school and I also had the ability to function as a part-time deal originator. Essentially, we had manpower to cover all the deals we had, but there was the succession question and the need/want to keep the pipeline at capacity.
Point being, we took our time and didn't rush into anything and that seems to be the same process most places. With that said, I was hired very quickly...in a matter of weeks...because the previous analyst bailed and they had no junior people...so they needed help. My guess is, the place that's interested in you is just busy, but not to the point where they need you immediately. When you are working on a deal, your day just flies by because you are constantly trying to iron out a wrinkle or avoid a potential wrinkle and the need to get those tasks accomplished means every call you have runs longer than scheduled and you get unscheduled calls about scheduling more calls in between the already scheduled calls. I'm sure you get the point.
Bottom line is, you will need someone to get you familiar with different things when you come aboard and if they are stretched thin, hiring you now is just a waste of your time and their money.
Regards
As a general rule, respect the point of contact.
Thanks for the above, I appreciate you all taking the time to respond - and all valid points. I think option C. may be the most appropriate in this case.
The other thing to keep in mind is that he only gets paid if you get placed, right? So if he is telling you to just sit tight and isn't having you check out other opportunities, then I tend to think that he isn't stringing you along or anything.
Regards
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