At some stage, many businesses will come to a watershed where there is a need to make a decisive turn – be that to allow a founder to retire, go beyond internal growth and make an acquisition, or allow a management team to take ownership.
Such a step often involves some material change in the operating or ownership model and, for that reason, it requires an enhanced analysis of the impact this will have on the business. Growing a business organically involves commercial risk, but changing the underlying business model, the ownership structure and/or the management team involves transactional risk at each stage of the process.
Often these events take place alongside a corporate finance led transaction, and the heavy lifting of the modelling and investment analysis is part of the M&A process. This can also include financial, commercial and legal due diligence and a great deal of scrutiny and granular review of data.
Over and above the wide-ranging market intelligence and technical competencies required as a matter of course, running a debt process as part of, or alongside, another transaction requires a toolkit which includes project management, organisational strength and commercial and logistical negotiating skills to keep the deal on target and on time, particularly for a synchronised completion.
For many businesses and entrepreneurs, a transaction of this kind takes place once in a generation. However, for our team, it is a well-worn path with much know-how and wisdom accumulated through personal experience and years of working with owners, buyers and funders. This makes for a powerful combination of technical capability, expertise and personal support where needed.
