Background & Problem: This study elaborates on the research of opening the black box of a non-fund Private equity firm. Through a single case study of a non-fund Private Equity firm, this study addresses the limited research on what activities take place in the often complex and confidential environment pre, during, and post, an acquisition in a non-fund Private Equity firm setting. The typical setup of Private Equity is to utilize the structure of a fund and previous research is mostly in relation to Private Equity firms utilizing a fund structure.

Purpose: Since there is a lack of in-depth understanding of the processes utilized by a non-fund Private Equity firm when acquiring, holding, and exiting a Portfolio company, this study intends to add knowledge of these processes utilized by a non-fund Private Equity firm.

Methodology: This thesis is performed using an exploratory and abductive research approach. Furthermore, this study is performed as a single case study including semi-structured interviews with selected interviewees.

Findings: The findings of this study indicate that the Private equity firm is able to perform cost-cutting activities more or less by itself but to be able to increase growth and value in the Portfolio company the Private equity firm seems to be dependent on the commitment of the Top Management Team as well as all other employees working in the Portfolio Company in order to potentially create a successful improvement of the Portfolio Company. Moreover, the findings also indicate that the studied Private Equity firm that does not utilize the typical fund structure still implements several operational, financial, and governance engineering tools described in the literature when restructuring the Portfolio Company.