The Corporate Finance Challenge

For the company owner looking to release value from his business or sell outright, the environment has never been more difficult.  The traditional banking routes has long since vanished and with investment portfolio’s already bloated, any deal really needs to sparkle.  This coupled with an inflated perception of what a firm is really worth, especially for the SME and the challenge becomes almost insurmountable through traditional routes to market.  Nice profitable, steady businesses are fine, but it is the stars that deliver growth that deliver value.

 Icebreaker’s answer to the problem

The Icebreaker team have many years of experience in turnaround and this expertise is now being applied to the corporate finance world with great success.  This approach has always been one of teams not individuals and resources only ever when you need it.

Our approach is very straightforward, to work with an owner to turn his business into a star and to align an investor up-front thereby allowing an exit plan.  By making the business more attractive and making a bigger return for the shareholders through the sales process.

First of all, we need to assess if the business has any potential. This work also forms the first part of any due diligence process from the investor side.  This will give the owner a plan, an exit and also allow us to support the likely funding options.

Depending on the plan, usually there is a short term earn out (typically 6 months) to allow the outgoing shareholders to maximise their value and to allow an effective transfer of skills. We are actively involved in the firms performance as part of the transaction, we own the deliverable s, the resourcing and support the firm through the transition, improve performance and grow the business.

This is how we manage the risks throughout the transaction and for the investor all the way to their planned exit.

This approach is not for everyone. We work best with small & mid size manufacturing & technology businesses with transaction value of between£1m and £30m, and business owners that recognize the need to let go of the reigns to achieve a good result.

 Whats the benefit?

For the owner, the benefits are twofold. First, the shareholders get a deal! Secondly, they maximise their value as the firm has a demonstrable plan for growth and a potentially a medium term exit with upside.

For the finance house, they also get a deal! And again, a deal at a greater value than without our input.

For the investor, they have a business with a real and deliverable plan for growth which we are committed to, making the deal far more attractive than it might otherwise have been.

Icebreaker are the catalyst working investor or client side to operationally make this happen