Troels Andersen · Private equity, family offices & special situations · Dubai / UAE

Operator & capital partner to private equity funds and family offices

I work with private equity sponsors, family offices, and management teams on three things: building and fixing operating companies, shaping and filtering direct deals, and designing capital stacks that fit the underlying engine. I bring an operator's view of cash and customers and a structured-finance toolkit, with the GCC as a live vantage point.

How principals tend to use me

I am brought into situations that are important enough not to be left to generic advisors: platforms that should become fund-defining assets, portfolio companies where value is at risk, and direct deals that need a real operating and capital plan. I work both as a structured capital partner and as a senior operator inside those companies.

Who I work with: mid- and upper mid-market PE funds · family offices · their portfolio companies and principals.

$370m+

Capital raised / structured across debt, equity & secondaries

Platforms & operating companies built or run

15+ years

Years across structured finance & real-economy deals

Discuss a mandate or role Talk about a deal or situation

Where I am most useful

Three recurring themes: portfolio companies that need a better engine, direct deals that should compound for principals, and capital structures – including private credit – that support rather than distort the business.

Portfolio companies

Hands-on work with companies owned by PE funds or families where cash, capital structure, and operations need to move together.

Short, intense phases followed by clear cadence and reporting.
Useful where there is a real business but the current engine is not good enough.

Direct deals & co-investments

Support on originating, shaping, and filtering direct deals that fit a family office or PE thesis.

Focus on real-economy businesses, platforms, and income-generating assets.
Combines commercial judgement, structured-finance toolkit, and operator’s intuition.

Capital & funding architecture

Design capital stacks around the underlying engine – equity, preferred, and private credit where it genuinely fits.

From first facilities and notes to more repeatable programmes.
Emphasis on structures management can live with and investors can underwrite.

Selected situations & mandates

Examples of how this shows up in practice. Full detail and references are available under NDA for serious counterparties and search firms.

SME lender platform — building a PE & FO-ready asset

Co-founder & CEO, trade finance platform (MENA)

Challenge: A fast-growing SME lender with strong demand, but funding constrained and operating in a fragmented regulatory environment.
Intervention: Designed the credit engine and operating model, secured a regional regulatory licence, and structured a multi-tranche funding stack with international institutions.
Outcome: Raised $171m in debt and growth capital and created a scalable, institutionally bankable platform that could sit comfortably in a PE or family office portfolio.

Portfolio company — liquidity & capital stack repair

Senior advisor / de facto operating partner

Challenge: Sponsor- or family-owned operator with tightening liquidity, misaligned facilities, and a fatigued management team.
Intervention: Mapped cash and covenants, redesigned the capital stack, renegotiated key lender and vendor terms, and installed a weekly operating and reporting rhythm.
Outcome: Stabilised liquidity, reduced noise around stakeholders, and positioned the company for disciplined growth or an orderly exit.

Family office — direct deals & yield sleeve

Structured capital & deal partner

Challenge: A family office wanted more direct exposure to real-economy businesses and income-generating strategies without building a full internal team.
Intervention: Defined a mandate around preferred sectors and deal sizes, sourced and filtered opportunities (equity, hybrids, and private credit), and imposed a simple but rigorous screening and governance process.
Outcome: Built a measured pipeline of direct deals and yield strategies with aligned counterparties, clearer visibility on risk, and no excess organisational overhead.

Ways to work together

Clear formats that protect everyone's time. Economics and depth can be tailored to fund size, family set-up, portfolio, and mandate.

Portfolio Company Mandate

Mandate-style engagement working alongside management as an extended operating / capital partner.

6–18 month horizon with a tightly defined remit agreed with the sponsor or principal.
Focus on cash, working capital, pricing, capital stack, and operating cadence.
Useful where you might otherwise hire an Operating Partner, CFO/COO, or interim portfolio CEO.

Direct Deal & Co-Invest Filter

For funds and families who see many opportunities but want a sharper, more disciplined filter.

Clarifies thesis, ticket size, and true risk appetite.
Sets up a simple screen, red-flag list, and required information pack.
Can extend to light-touch underwriting and ongoing monitoring on selected deals.

Capital Stack & Funding Design

For platforms and operating companies that need a coherent funding architecture.

Deep dive on unit economics, existing facilities, and investor landscape.
Proposed structures (equity, hybrids, private credit) and target counterparties.
Output ready for IC discussion and external conversations.

Typically relevant for principals with platforms or operating companies at enterprise values from c. $20m+ or specialist platforms with portfolios and facilities from c. $10m+.

GCC vantage point for principals

I live and work in the UAE and maintain operating infrastructure here. It acts as a real-time lab for how inventory, receivables, and cash behave in the GCC – useful when your thesis, family capital, or portfolio touches the region.

What this looks like

Import, compliance, and FTZ warehousing for selected product and cash flows.
Controlled distribution into targeted channels with weekly sell-through and margin reporting.
Hands-on view of payment behaviour, stock turns, and counterparties across the region.

Why it matters to PE & families

Better intuition on where GCC exposure strengthens or weakens an investment case.
Ability to sanity-check assumptions from teams that have not run operations here.
A practical route-to-market for the right portfolio companies and platforms, not a generic “market entry” service.

Field notes (core theses)

Not a news feed. These are the lenses I use when looking at platforms, portfolio companies, and direct deals for PE funds and families.

Looking at companies through a principal’s lens

How I think about cash, behaviour, and decision-making when capital is family or fund money, not index capital.

Read note

Capital stacks that operators can live with

Using equity, preferred, and private credit as tools to support the engine, not as products in search of a story.

Read note

When GCC exposure strengthens a thesis

Where the UAE / GCC genuinely adds edge for PE and family offices – and where it should remain an option, not a headline.

Read note

Contact

For mandates, portfolio roles, or specific situations, email troels@ndersen.xyz.

Calendaring by request. Encrypted channels (PGP, Signal) are available for sensitive or time-critical matters.

Private room — search firms & principals

A private room contains detailed transaction lists, mandate summaries, references, and example reporting. Access is available for serious search assignments and principal-side mandates.

Request / enter private room

Need to talk about a company or direct deal?Contact Troels