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Operator-led advisory

Diagnose the problem. Fix the economics. Scale what works.

Senior operating experience, focused diagnostics and hands-on execution. Three primary products, each with a fixed-scope way in that you can buy on its own.

Diagnostic in 10–14 daysFixed scope, fixed feePartner-led
Discuss a business problemExplore our diagnostics

In short

Keel Advisory is operator-led management consulting: we diagnose the problem, fix the economics and scale what works. Three primary products carry most of the work — Healthcare Performance, Commercial Performance and UAE/MENA Market Entry. Every one of them starts with a fixed-scope, fixed-timeline diagnostic that runs in 10 to 14 days, and you can buy that diagnostic without committing to anything after it.

How we engage

Diagnose. Fix. Scale.

Three stages, and you only commit to the next one when the last one has earned it. Most firms sell you the whole programme. We would rather sell you the diagnostic and let the findings make the case.

01

Diagnose

Problem definition, baseline, quantified opportunity, priority interventions and an executive decision pack. Fixed scope, fixed timeline, fixed fee.

10–14 days
02

Fix

Implement the priority interventions, establish the operating rhythm, and measure the impact actually realised rather than the impact forecast.

60–90 days
03

Scale

Ongoing optimisation, fractional leadership, performance monitoring and expansion into the next part of the business.

6–12 months
You can stop after the diagnostic. It is priced and scoped as a standalone piece of work, and it is yours whether or not you engage us again. Sometimes the honest finding is that you do not need the next phase.

Primary products

Three things we are genuinely good at

Not a catalogue. These are the three problems we take most often, and each one has a defined way in.

Healthcare Performance

01 · Healthcare

For employers carrying a medical-cost line they cannot explain, and for providers whose utilisation and process leakage are decided long before the finance review.

Diagnose

Employer Healthcare Cost & Utilisation DiagnosticMedical expenditure, claims and utilisation patterns, employee experience, provider utilisation, process leakage and the controllable cost opportunities underneath them.

Fix

90-Day Healthcare Performance ProgrammeImplement the priority interventions, fix the process leakage and put a measurement rhythm in place.

Scale

Annual Healthcare Performance OfficeOngoing governance of plan design, utilisation and renewal, with the numbers reviewed on a set cadence rather than once a year under time pressure.

Scope boundary. Keel Partners provides independent management advisory services. We do not provide insurance broking, insurance underwriting or third-party administration services, and we take no commission from any carrier, provider or vendor. Regulated work is performed by licensed parties, named in writing at mandate.

Commercial Performance

02 · Commercial

For businesses where revenue is growing but the economics are not, and nobody can say precisely where the margin is going.

Diagnose

Commercial Performance DiagnosticRevenue leakage, sales productivity, go-to-market effectiveness, channel economics, customer acquisition and the commercial operating model.

Fix

90-Day Growth SprintFix pricing and channel economics, rebuild the commercial cadence, and hold the team to a measurable weekly rhythm.

Scale

Fractional Commercial LeadershipA commercial leader on the file at partner level, without carrying a full-time hire before the revenue supports one.

UAE / MENA Market Entry

03 · Market entry

For businesses entering the Gulf who need the commercial answer, not only the licensing one — and who would rather find out now if the market does not work.

Diagnose

Market Entry DiagnosticMarket attractiveness, customer segments, competition, route to market, commercial economics, operating requirements and the entry risks worth taking seriously.

Fix

Market Launch SprintEntity and operating setup sequenced against first revenue, the first hires, and the channel that actually opens the market.

Scale

Fractional Market DevelopmentSomeone senior carrying the market while it is too early to justify a country head.

Discuss a business problemExplore our diagnostics

Engagement economics

What an engagement costs

We price by stage, not from a rate card. The diagnostic is a fixed fee against a fixed scope, so you know the cost of finding out before you agree to it.

Fees for the Fix and Scale stages are quoted after the diagnostic, because that is the first point at which either side can size the work honestly. Where impact is genuinely measurable and contractually appropriate, part of the Scale fee can sit against performance.

Discuss a business problem
StageHow it is priced
DiagnoseFixed fee against a fixed scope and a fixed timeline
FixFixed project fee, or a monthly implementation fee
ScaleMonthly retainer, with a performance component where impact is measurable and contractually appropriate
Employer healthcare engagements can move to per-employee-per-month or savings-linked economics once the diagnostic has established a baseline. We do not quote that formula before there is a baseline to apply it to.

Credentials

How we show proof

We publish no outcome claim we cannot stand behind, and we are explicit about which kind of evidence you are looking at. There are two kinds, and they are not worth the same.

  1. Mandate records

    What the mandate was, what we did on it and how it ended. Named where the client has agreed to be named. This is what the cases below are.

  2. Measured outcomes

    The same, with a baseline captured before anyone touched it and the same metric measured the same way afterwards. Stronger, and rarer.

Why we separate them. A closed transaction is a fact. A percentage improvement without a baseline is a claim wearing a number. Our diagnostics capture the baseline at the start precisely so the second kind becomes possible on your mandate — but we will not relabel the first kind as the second to make a page look better.
What the partners have actually runWho would carry your file

Transaction record

Selected case studies

Three mandates, three different transaction contexts: stressed-asset monetisation, pharmacy-chain acquisition and exit, and brownfield hospitality. Deal facts and outcomes only.

01 Café Coffee DayStressed-asset monetisation

2021–22Karnataka & Kerala
AED 92M
Coffee-estate asset pool (US$25M)
~60%
Approximate group debt reduction
CFO-led
Client working team

Situation

The group needed to monetise stressed coffee-estate assets across Karnataka and Kerala as part of a wider debt-reduction and financial restructuring effort.

What we did

Worked with the CFO to structure the asset-liquidation strategy, prepare the transaction approach and identify prospective buyers for the stressed assets.

Outcome

The asset monetisation supported approximately 60% debt reduction for the larger group and created room for the subsequent restructuring of the financial organisation.

What this shows

Working inside a stressed situation, translating assets into a buyer-ready transaction strategy and supporting balance-sheet repair.

02 RedDot LifePharmacy buy-side and sell-side

BengaluruTwo mandates
2
Pharmacy chains transacted
AED 7.3M
Family Pharma (US$2M)
AED 29.4M
Ramdev chain (US$8M)

Situation

Pharmacy-chain owners needed hands-on transaction support across both an acquisition and an exit in Bengaluru.

What we did

Carried both a buyer-side and a seller-side mandate, supporting owners through transaction preparation, counterpart engagement and execution.

Outcome

Family Pharma at AED 7.3M and the Ramdev chain at AED 29.4M. Both transactions closed.

What this shows

Owner-level execution on both sides of the table, with sector familiarity in pharmacy retail and operating assets.

03 Rahat VenturesBrownfield hospitality

MG Road, Karnataka
AED 7.3M
Mandate value (US$2M)
30 rooms
Operating hotel asset
Closed
Mandate outcome

Situation

A brownfield hotel opportunity on MG Road needed commercial and transaction support around an operating 30-room hospitality asset.

What we did

Supported the mandate through commercial assessment, transaction positioning and the path to closure.

Outcome

An AED 7.3M transaction on a 30-room hotel asset. Mandate closed.

What this shows

Evaluating and executing around brownfield hospitality assets, where operating reality and transaction structure meet.

About these cases. All three mandates were completed through predecessor operating entities before Keel Partners FZE LLC was incorporated in 2026, by the partners who carry mandates today. Clients are named with their agreement. Values are approximate where indicated and converted at the pegged rate of USD 1 = AED 3.6725.
Keel Partners provides independent management advisory services. We are not licensed as a financial adviser, placement agent or investment bank, and we do not arrange, underwrite or place securities. Regulated activity is performed by licensed parties, named in writing at mandate.

Secondary

Other advisory capabilities

Available, and deliberately not given equal billing. We take these where they sit alongside one of the three primary products.

Outsourcing & Backend Operations

What to keep, what to move, and how to run a back office across the India–GCC corridor without losing control of quality.

Explore

M&A / Transaction Support

Buy-side and sell-side commercial support, and the hundred-day plan that decides whether the deal was worth doing.

Explore
The full list of advisory lanes

Start here

Tell us what is not working

Tell us the problem in your own words. You will hear back from the partner who would carry the work, within one business day.

If a diagnostic is the right next step we will say which one and what it covers. If it is not — if the problem is smaller than you think, or belongs with a licensed specialist — we would rather tell you that in the first conversation.

Scope boundary. Keel Partners provides independent management advisory services. We do not provide insurance broking, insurance underwriting or third-party administration services, and we take no commission from any carrier, provider or vendor. Regulated work is performed by licensed parties, named in writing at mandate.

A partner replies within one business day. See our privacy notice.

FAQ

Questions buyers actually ask

How does an engagement start?

With a fixed-scope diagnostic. Depending on the problem that is the Employer Healthcare Cost and Utilisation Diagnostic, the Commercial Performance Diagnostic or the Market Entry Diagnostic. Each runs in 10 to 14 days against a fixed scope, a fixed timeline and a fixed fee.

Do I have to commit to the whole programme?

No. The diagnostic is a standalone engagement and is priced as one. You own the output whether or not you take the next stage, and occasionally the honest finding is that there is no next stage worth paying for.

What do I actually get from the diagnostic?

Problem definition, a measured baseline, a quantified opportunity, a ranked set of interventions and an executive decision pack — written so that a board can act on it without us in the room.

Why is there no price list on the site?

Because a rate card would be dishonest before we know the problem. The diagnostic is a fixed fee against a fixed scope and we quote it in the first conversation. Fix and Scale are quoted after the diagnostic, which is the first point either side can size the work properly.

Are you insurance brokers?

No. Keel Partners provides independent management advisory services. We do not provide insurance broking, insurance underwriting or third-party administration, we hold no such licence, and we take no commission from any carrier, provider or vendor. That independence is the point of the advice.

How are you different from a large consulting firm?

A large firm sells you a brand and staffs the work with people you will never meet again. Here the partner in the first meeting is the partner on the file every week. The trade-off is real: we hold few engagements at a time and we decline what we cannot cover.

How are you different from a generalist consultant?

A generalist sells breadth. We publish three primary products and a list of work we decline. Twenty years of carrying P&Ls sits behind the recommendation, which is a different thing from having advised on them.

Who carries the work?

A partner. Pratap Chandra carries Gulf mandates from Dubai; Anup Ranjan carries the India side — sourcing, supply chain and execution on the ground. Where a mandate needs capital advice, Shilpa Abhishek is engaged as senior advisor.

Pratap ChandraFounder & Managing Partner, Keel Partners
IIM Calcutta (PGPEX). 20+ years running P&Ls in FMCG, retail and healthcare across India and the GCC.

Next step

Discuss a business problem

Thirty minutes with the partner who would carry the work. Bring the problem, not a brief. If a diagnostic is the right next step we will say which one; if it is not, we will say that too.

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