How private equity choose their investments

Having supported a high profile conveyancing firm secure investment Lanterna Consulting co‑founders Simon Farthing and Shona Kaye are well placed to tackle the topic of how law firms can present themselves to secure private equity investment. Investors are looking to scrutinise scalability, data foundations and operational maturity they explain. Firms without a coherent technology strategy risk being overlooked.In a wide-ranging discussion the pair explore how outdated systems, patchy adoption, and decisions driven more by anecdote than strategy hold firms back. Kaye notes that many firms still rely on platforms decades old, propped up by internal developers and workarounds that mask deeper structural issues . The market, they argue, is now at a crossroads. Traditional, on‑premise systems remain deeply embedded, but modern cloud‑based, low‑code platforms are rapidly maturing and firms must decide whether to evolve or be left behind.Private equity, they say, is looking for alignment between business strategy and tech strategy, between user needs and leadership assumptions, and between ambition and capability. Success involved getting the right people in the room; department heads, everyday users, and those who understand the firm’s unique processes.The concept best‑of‑breed ecosystems has emerged, where a core case management “system of record” is enhanced with specialist tools. Integration, data quality and API openness now matter as much as functionality.So how can firms make the right technology decisions to enhance their prospects of private equity investment? Listen in to find out...The Today's Conveyancer podcast can be found on your preferred podcast provider and also at www.todaysconveyancer.co.uk. Subscribe and listen in for all the latest conveyancing industry news and views. Thank you to our podcast sponsors LEAP Legal Software and InfoTrack