“Private equity are finance folks,” Mod Op’s Bertrand said. “[Most] don’t understand marketing and advertising very well. But once they make an investment, they start to understand it better.”

While some PE firms are more hands-on in their management of agencies, others are more consultative. Chief marketing officer Courtney Lewis said The Variable’s PE backers, Svoboda Capital Partners, weigh in on major strategic decisions, but otherwise focus on whether or not the agency is meeting its revenue goals.

MMGY Global’s Farmer also described his agency’s relationship with its PE backers as more consultative and goal-oriented. “They don’t get up in our business as far as hiring, or bodies, or anything like that,” he said.

But other times, agencies are part of a larger strategic bet by PE firms. Mod Op, for instance, was acquired alongside other agencies—including Crenshaw Communications, Context Creative, Red Tettemer O’Connell + Partners, and Evans Hunt—with the expectation that all of them would pitch and work together.

“That’s our entire model—cross-selling [and] integrating the agencies into a one Mod Op scenario,” Bertrand said. “That’s probably the biggest pressure we have from the private equity group.”

The transition from independence to integration has been “very difficult,” Bertrand said, as some agencies under the portfolio have been operating independently for decades.

“It’s hard to get the founders’ heads and arms around that,” he said.