Case Studies
CAREER CHANGE
The owner of a local printing company sold part of his business, an office supply division, to a company engaged in an industry roll-up. The owner realized he wanted to be a publisher, not a printer, and decided to sell his $2,000,000 printing business so he could start his new venture. We were able to sell to a local printer who wanted the additional market share. The seller received cash and notes.
BUSINESS BREAK-UP
A group of dentists developed a small group of offices and wanted to take advantage of position during an industry roll-up period. The four owners all had different reasons to convert their assets. The practices were sold, as a group, to a publicly traded company as part of the Initial Public Offering process.
FAMILY BUSINESS
The owner of a manufacturing company with significant market potential wanted to sell his business to pursue other interests. The business had been established by his deceased father. Included in the manufacturing business was a powder coating operation whose primary customer was a high end appliance company. The businesses were separated. The manufacturing portion was sold to a private equity group and the powder coating operation was sold to a conglomerate.
CONFLICT RESOLUTION
The partners of a CPA firm needed assistance with resolving conflict within their firm. Their objective was to make it through the upcoming tax season and then develop an exit strategy with the dissolution of the partnership as their target. Weekly meetings were held to resolve the conflict, clarify operational roles of the partners and key employees within the firm. A strategic plan was developed and implemented for moving forward without dissolving the partnership and firm.
BUSINESS CLOSING
The owner of a veterinary clinic was diagnosed with a debilitating health condition. She could no longer participate in the day-to-day operations and management that the business required. An assessment was conducted of the financial and operational status of the clinic. Following the discovery of a significant amount of unbilled services, substantial personal debt and living expenses comingled with the business financials for several years and the realization of little to no overall profitability of the clinic, a recommendation was made to close the clinic and liquidate all assets.
SALE IN DEFAULT
A business owner died, leaving his long-time business partner as the executrix of his estate. Among other things, his estate contained a corporation which was doing business as a retail franchisee. As the estate was in probate, ownership had not been transferred in compliance with the franchisor’s required time from the date of the owner’s death, placing the franchisee in default. CAPSTONE was engaged to gain clarification of the situation from the franchisor, work in concert with the client’s attorney, and submit recommendations on regaining compliant status with the franchisor and developing options for a sale. Within three months, we gained clarification and cooperation from the franchisor, an extension was granted and we were able to identify buyers, negotiate and close a transaction.
MEDICAL CLINIC
The owner of a successful aesthetics clinic had engaged a franchise business brokerage to “list” her business for sale. After her disappointing experience, we were engaged to properly assist her in meeting her objectives. The clinic was marketed to a community of prospective strategic buyers. During our process, the owner’s personal circumstances changed and we introduced an expert in taxation to complement our process and insure that the owner’s new personal and financial objectives were also reached.
DISTRESSED SITUATION
We were introduced to the owner of a well-known distribution company whose business had been in decline. He had recently received a visit from the special assets division of his primary lending relationship and he wanted to discuss his options moving forward. We conducted a valuation of the business and found that the company’s financial commitments exceeded total assets by over two million dollars. Due to the situation with the lender, CAPSTONE advised the client to gain approval of any and all activities with the lender prior to any future activity.
BANKRUPTCY, TURNAROUND AND SALE
We were engaged by a bankruptcy trustee to oversee the financial management of a nursing home whose management company had recently filed for bankruptcy and left the home to survive on its own until a new owner could be found. New stand-alone I.T. and accounting infrastructure was designed and implemented. We improved their liquidity by managing accounts receivable and bringing accounts payable in line and a new owner was secured. As the engagement continues CAPSTONE is settling all accounts receivable and accounts payable so that the former legal entity can be closed. We engaged a CPA with experience in nursing home cost reports to file the proper governmental reports.
FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT
The fourth-generation owner of a printing company needed assistance with financial management of his company and his personal interests. As a referral from his attorney, the owner engaged Rich Miles of CAPSTONE to assist in this role. Rich assists the owner with day-to-day financial oversight, overall financial management, forecasting and budgeting.