Case Studies

Delivering a deal in a pandemic

Written on 8th April 2022 by George Seward  |  Permalink

We were introduced to Phillip Mars Jones, the owner in the Summer of 2019. We agreed to work together to quickly assimilate the knowledge needed to talk confidently about the issues in the industry, mainly the tremendous downward pressure on margins creating problems especially for other operators burdened with debt.

From the outset, we were able to identify a number of potential acquirers, although none had the ability to deliver an offer that met with the client’s aspirations.

Within a few months an acceptable offer was secured and exclusivity was granted. However, following the outbreak of Covid 19 and a national lockdown, debt funders reduced their initial lend capability affecting the deal, which was eventually scrapped.

Despite the Coranavirus pandemic affecting all aspects of the economy, our clients’ business was largely unaffected as it worked in a number of key industry segments and turnover and profit were only marginally impacted. We felt certain that given time, funding rules would eventually come back.

We therefore agreed with the client to maintain our efforts to secure a sale and in the Summer of 2020, two industry veterans were introduced to our client to see if an acceptable deal could be assembled. The team’s professional advisers and experienced fund raisers could operate in the “New Normal”and an acceptable deal was agreed before proceeding to the legal phase in December 2020.

By maintaining our focus, we were able to keep the project on track, resulting in a successful sale in otherwise difficult times.