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Partnership education

Private equity
basics

Plain-English definitions for the terms that come up in platform partnership conversations — so you can orient your advisors and compare options on a level field.

How to use this page

Vocabulary, not a pitch

These concepts show up in letters of intent, management agreements, and physician discussions. We wrote this as a shared reference — not as tax, legal, or investment advice.

At a glance

  • EBITDA and multiples frame how buyers compare practices.
  • Scrape is the platform fee — judge it against services and lift, not in isolation.
  • Income repair bridges Day 1 cash after a transaction.
  • Rollover equity aligns physicians with platform growth.

Core terms

What the language means

Six ideas you will hear repeatedly — in diligence, in term sheets, and in physician-to-physician conversations.

EBITDA

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. A common lens for operating cash generation before capital structure and accounting choices. Buyers use it to compare practices and to apply a multiple for enterprise value.

Multiple

Valuation shorthand: enterprise value (or equity value, depending on context) divided by a profit measure — often EBITDA or collections. A higher multiple usually reflects scale, growth, payor mix, or quality of earnings.

Scrape (management fee)

A percentage of collections or profitability retained by the platform for centralized services (RCM, IT, HR, contracting, etc.). The right question is whether the scrape is transparent, competitive, and more than offset by revenue, margin, and long-term equity value.

Income repair

When a deal changes how you are paid, income repair is the bridge: structuring cash compensation so Day 1 take-home is rational relative to pre-deal economics, then layering equity and upside over time.

Rollover equity

Physicians often roll a portion of sale proceeds into equity in the larger platform. That aligns incentives for a second liquidity event (or ongoing distributions) and ties clinical leaders to enterprise growth.

Deal structure (high level)

Cardiology partnerships typically combine upfront consideration, ongoing compensation, equity (rollover and/or new grants), and covenants that define clinical versus business governance.

Package shape

What is usually in the package

Every practice is different; this is the pattern most groups recognize when they compare term sheets.

Aligned Cardio emphasizes clinical autonomy with centralized business infrastructure — see our approach and the partnership model.

  • Upfront consideration — cash at close for asset or equity purchase.
  • Ongoing compensation — clinical production, leadership stipends, or hybrid models.
  • Equity — rollover and/or new grants in the platform.
  • Covenants and governance — who decides clinical versus business matters.

Next step

Stress-test with your numbers

Explore scenario tools or send a confidential evaluation — we will follow up from corporate@alignedcardio.com.

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Educational summary only. Not tax, legal, or investment advice. Review all terms with qualified counsel and your Aligned Cardio deal team.