While growth had tailed off, the business was not for sale. In addition, the executive needed access to the funds that would be required to acquire the business if it were for sale.

• Advised and coached the executive on how to position himself with the vendor
• Successfully positioned the executive as the buyer of choice
• Valued the business as a stand-alone proposition compared with the value that could be achieved under the executive’s vision
• Created a presentation showing the state of the business and the opportunity for value creation represented through an acquisition
• Ran a process which included the selected equity investors to invest alongside the executive
• Sourced the debt capital to fund part of the purchase price and negotiated optimal credit terms
• Approached the vendor with an unsolicited proposal and negotiated the purchase through a very tight process

• Target debt was re-financed with new debt that represented over 50% of the purchase price
• Syndicate of optimal equity investors was selected to invest alongside the executive
• Appropriate governance regime was put in place
• Business was acquired for an attractive valuation
• On to growing the business!