Background

A global Bioprocessing equipment supplier with nearly €3.5 billion in revenue and a strong cash position following the COVID-19 period sought to define a long-term portfolio strategy. The company needed to determine how best to allocate capital and resources across key business units, technology platforms and innovation to balance short-term market opportunities with sustainable value creation. The objective was to identify where to invest, where to defend, and how to prioritize growth initiatives for maximum return on capital.

Our approach

In sixteen weeks, Larka conducted a comprehensive strategic and financial portfolio assessment to optimize growth focus and capital deployment. The engagement combined market analytics, operational diagnostics, and financial modeling across six dimensions: (i) Market and Competitive Dynamics – assessed growth potential, customer demand, and competitive intensity across key business lines and adjacencies to determine size of opportunities and relative right-to-win, (ii) Profitability and Capital Efficiency – evaluated margin profiles, CapEx intensity, and return on invested capital to prioritize areas generating the highest economic value, (iii) Operational Capabilities – reviewed technological maturity, network capacity, and scalability to identify investment readiness and operational constraints, (iv) Customer and Segment Profitability – analyzed customer mix, segment performance, and account concentration to highlight dependency risks and expansion, cross-selling or up-selling opportunities across service lines, (v) Strategic Options Modeling – simulated alternative investment scenarios to test strategic and financial outcomes under different market assumptions, and (vi) Organizational Readiness – assessed leadership depth, FTE distribution, and execution capacity to ensure the portfolio roadmap was actionable and sustainable.

Outcome

The engagement delivered a rationalized and actionable portfolio roadmap supported by a clear investment hierarchy. The client implemented a targeted capital allocation plan exceeding €500M, balancing short-term operational needs with long-term innovation. The strategy also identified concrete cross-selling opportunities across existing accounts, improving customer retention and lifetime value.