A successful merger or acquisition (M&A) requires the coordination of many intricate details spanning the entire business model. Complex M&A activities necessitate the ability to plan and execute a major logistical transition, to foresee and mitigate risks and to launch and complete the project in the shortest possible time frame. This all must be accomplished while avoiding costly disruptions to the core business and protecting customer satisfaction.
The needs, goals and perspectives of clients who seek our assistance in helping them to divest of an operating asset can vary widely depending on several factors. For example, the identity of the client (i.e. a founding entrepreneur versus a corporate parent), the competitive nature of the industry, the number and composition of the customer base, and the characteristics of the asset itself will all greatly influence the appropriate and effective divestiture strategy. Newbridge prides itself on understanding the importance of such distinctions and our ability to tailor our strategy to the precise needs of our clients. Again, by striving to always place ourselves in our clients’ shoes, we maximize both our probability of immediate success and the building of reputation for integrity and intuitive understanding of the unique nuances inherent in every sale transaction.
Acquisition advisory services include a broad gamut of specific tasks and assignments. These can range from the very preliminary stage of helping clients conceptualize and clarify a general growth strategy, including “build versus buy”, to helping clients decide exactly what types of businesses to acquire, to conducting comprehensive acquisition searches, to assisting clients in negotiating purchase price and terms, to finding, structuring, and negotiating acquisition financing. Newbridge possesses broad experience in each of these aspects of “buy side” advisory services.
We have considerable experience in advising Boards of Directors and Management of companies considering transactions as to the fairness of those transactions from a financial point of view. To provide these opinions requires diligence in understanding the transaction in depth, doing the right amount of question-asking and research, and reaching a well-founded conclusion. We excel in these areas, which is why our clients turn to us when they need sound guidance.
The need or goal of a “Restructuring” can be driven by many factors. Some very successful, profitable and growing companies may elect to consider a restructuring or “recapitalization” as a means of providing liquidity to shareholders or financing additional growth without relinquishing control of the Company. Alternatively, companies facing financial difficulties due to market changes, cost inflation, excess leverage, or creditor actions may have little choice but to implement a restructuring strategy. Such defensive restructurings can run the gamut from making incremental changes to marketing or operating strategies, to voluntary renegotiation with creditors such as entering into forbearance agreements, to more radical elections such as seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Newbridge possesses extensive experience in advising clients in executing all of the above restructuring strategies. Our goal in any restructuring situation is always the same however; to help our client make the right choices. This includes sometimes making difficult decisions and taking appropriate risks in order to re-establish a foundation upon which a new era of success and financial health can be built.
Capital markets offer three fundamental types of financing to meet the growth and other needs of our clients. Depending on the size, balance sheet, and life cycle stage of a company, Newbridge helps its clients determine whether straight debt financing, pure equity financing or financing instruments with both debt and equity features is the most appropriate option in a given situation. Within each of these 3 main categories of financial instruments, there also exist further distinctions in terms of the availability, risk, cost, and terms of how such instruments are structured. While Fortune 500 companies typically possess in-house the expertise to evaluate their capital structure and make the optimum decisions regarding new financings, the vast majority of companies do not possess either the training or the experience to navigate through these choices and processes. In such situations, Newbridge serves as our clients’ “outsourced” corporate finance department. We understand the availability, risks, rewards, terms and conditions of the varied types of financing options offered by today’s capital markets.
