Strategic Corporate Finance
Strategic Corporate Finance is an award winning team of specialist lead deal advisors who are dedicated to serving the SME market place. Our team has a wealth of experience and is well placed to work alongside you in your client’s best interests to ensure they achieve their business objectives.
We work closely with many accountants. We take a collaborative approach, as accountants have the detailed knowledge of their client and we have the specialist corporate finance skills required to successfully complete a transaction.
We do not provide accountancy or taxation services and so have no conflict with accountants referring work to us.
The clients we typically advise have a turnover between £1 – £20 million, across a diverse variety of business sectors and throughout the whole of the UK.
We offer all potential clients a free, no obligation consultation on a range of strategic matters which could include succession planning issues or growth strategies. We offer a full range of lead advisory services including:
- Company disposals
- Company acquisitions
- Management buy-outs (MBO’s) or buy-ins (MBI’s)
- Vendor initiated buy-outs (VIMBO’s)
- Fundraising
- Due diligence for banks, venture capitalists and purchasers
- Company valuations
Strategic Corporate Finance is committed to providing your clients with pro-active partner led advice and hands-on project management so that every transaction is completed efficiently and with your client’s best interests in mind.
How do we work with you?
You identify potential opportunities and then introduce us to your client for an initial consultation. We will then work closely with you throughout the transaction and involve you in aspects of the assignment. You have the detailed knowledge about your client and we have the specialist corporate finance expertise – working closely together we can provide your client with a high quality service.
If you consider that there is a possible transaction opportunity for any of your clients then please discuss this with us in the first instance. We are happy to speak to you about any such transaction. Anything you say to us is treated as absolutely confidential.
There is never any cost to your firm from talking to us about potential deal opportunities.
Benefits to your practice
Other corporate finance advisors are likely to be targeting your clients based on publicly available information. By initiating discussions with your client about the transaction services that we can offer there is a far greater chance that you will:-
- Provide your clients with the solutions they need.
- Retain existing clients. Other corporate finance advisors, who are part of general accountancy practices, will be keen to introduce their own firms for post transaction accountancy work. We are full-time corporate finance professionals and we do not provide accountancy or taxation services.
- Receive fees from the transaction.
- Receive an element of our remuneration for introducing Strategic Corporate Finance.
Our approach to selling a business
Accountants are often the first people entrepreneurs turn to when they are thinking of selling their business. They have an established relationship with their clients and so are ideally placed to offer advice and recommend specialists to act.
We have expertise in selling businesses and work closely with accountants to achieve results for their clients.
Our approach to selling businesses is professional and thorough. We take time to understand our client’s objectives and the business we are selling. We challenge client’s preconceptions. Is a particular selling price realistic? Is a trade sale the right option? Would a management buy-out be a better route?
We use a variety of databases to research the most likely potential buyers and prepare a shortlist to approach. This means we focus our effort on buyers who are able to pay a strategic premium for a business.
We are also able to advertise businesses for sale via our weekly deal opportunities email, which is sent to over 1,500 professionals in the corporate finance community.
We prepare a professional information memorandum that highlights the key features of the business being sold and provides sufficient detail on the company to enable comparable indicative offers to be made.
We lead negotiations with prospective purchasers and advise clients on the relative merits of competing offers.
We provide ongoing, proactive advice throughout the disposal process, project managing all the various parties to a transaction including principals, solicitors, accountants and funders. With our deal making experience we can anticipate problems before they arise.
If you have any clients that are thinking of selling, please contact us to discuss whether we can help.
Our approach to acquisitions (including buy-outs)
We act on many acquisitions each year, including acquisitions for corporate clients as well as management buy-outs.
We help find appropriate acquisition targets for clients through our knowledge of businesses for sale and researching companies that meet specific criteria.
When a target is identified we provide advice on valuation and possible deal structure. We often lead negotiations on behalf of clients and draft heads of terms.
Beyond that stage we can raise the finance required for the acquisition. We have an extensive network of bankers, venture capitalists and other financers we use to fund transactions. We have specialist skills to help clients prepare business plans and financial forecasts that meet the standard funders are looking for.
We are also ideally suited to undertaking financial due diligence on target companies.
We always provide a hands-on service, project managing the acquisition from start to finish. This enables the client to focus on their business without being unduly distracted by the transaction.
As well as acquisitions by corporate clients, we have advised on numerous management buy-outs, acting for either the management team or the vendors. We like to get involved as early as possible, so we can shape the structure of a deal in a way that makes it fundable.
A common misconception amongst business owners is that their management team cannot afford to buy them out. We can quickly establish whether a deal is possible and structure a deal that is fundable.
Fees
On most assignments there is a monthly retainer payable to us by your client followed by a success fee which only becomes payable upon the legal completion of the transaction. In many cases the success element of our fee is the most significant proportion of the fee.
Can we emphasise again that there is never any charge for exploratory phone conversations or exploratory meetings.
Contact details
Please contact Andrew Coates FCA on 0114 268 4141, 07980 212 414 or andrew.coates@strategiccf.co.uk