Successes
Corporate Finance, including selling a business, mergers and acquisitions, Disposals, and capital raising
Selling a business
We were initially employed as Business advisors to conduct a Fresh Pair of Eyes Review. After identifying the main options available including a public offering, the founder and owner concluded that he really wanted to get his money out sooner rather than later by selling the business. After grooming the business for sale, a Management Buy In was organized and a sale concluded for a figure between 5 and 10 million pounds.Then selling it for the second time
When it emerged that the star new product was not going to generate profits of the magnitude originally anticipated without further significant investment, the business was sold to a competitor at a profit to the original investors.
J Lloyd Instruments is still based in Hampshire and manufactures electronic instruments for industrial use world-wide.
Taking a quoted company private
The brief was to conduct a Strategic Review. This quoted company had four trading divisions, operated world-wide and sold to a variety of end users through different distribution channels in the aircraft and motor businesses.The process, which involved the entire leadership team, took six months to complete and Greenly’s were responsible for driving the whole process. The outcome was that the business sold off one of its divisions to Germany, put greater effort behind another and decided to delist from the main stock market. It now trades successfully as a private company.
Britax International have their UK headquarters in central England.
Funding and launching a new UK based subsidiary, then conducting an exit
The task was to establish a new subsidiary in the South East of England. Greenly's role was to incubate the new company, providing mentoring and part-time support on strategic, financial and operational matters. The Swedish parent company had previously licensed distributors for its trademarked learning materials throughout the World. The challenge was to create a successful business, leveraging off the content provided from Sweden, using the minimum amount of risk capital which we raised.After a successful trial period carried out within an established incubator unit, the company was established in its own right and over a three-year period became a financially significant contributor to its parent company.
Once successful we arranged the sale of our shares.
The parent company is Celemi AB based in Sweden
Selling a quoted company to private investors
This company had decided to float on the junior UK market and was failing to meet the profit numbers used to attract the original investors. A team member was asked to join the board to oversee a strategic review. It rapidly became apparent that the existing board was truly dysfunctional. Rapid action was required to restore confidence in the Board amongst both investors and employees. New Directors were brought on board and the company was merging with a profitable business in an aligned service industry. At the same time, it was sold to institutional and private investors and was delisted.ATA Selection plc was based in South East England.
Developing businesses and getting them to a ‘Sale Ready’ or ‘Investor Ready’ state
Growing a business through acquisition and preparing it for sale
The acquirer has The Objective of dominating the region in which it operates. Very quickly an opportunity arose to buy at a reasonable value and the acquisition was made very quickly, there being little time to carry out due diligence.Shortly afterwards it became clear that all was not well and that significant changes in personnel, operating policies and structure were needed. These have now been implemented and the acquisition has been integrated effectively into the parent company structure. Cash flow has turned positive and profits are growing substantially.
As the plan is now to prepare the business for sale then sell it, its identity remains anonymous.
A turnaround of a business facing market challenges
This was a well-established plc suffering from gradual sales decline blamed on to changes in its marketplace. The original brief was to find and appoint a new Chairman. After conducting a Fresh Pair of Eyes Review, it very quickly became clear that the business was in danger of trading whilst insolvent. Our 3 person team put in an immediate turnaround plan which changed losses of over the previous 2 years of some £600,000 into a current year profit of £160,000. The plc was governed by a restrictive shareholders agreement and we were prevented from completing the sales growth and product innovation phase of our plan.MaST International is based in Berkshire with offices in Central England.
A business turnaround
This company had decided to expand its business by buying a new and expensive piece of packaging equipment which also required it to expand into a second factory. A “quick and dirty” examination conducted by a team of two revealed that the business was on the brink of trading whilst insolvent. After examining the options, it was concluded that the most viable route was to put the main company into voluntary liquidation and retrench the business in its original premises.An administrator was appointed who persuaded the main creditors to allow an orderly liquidation of the main Company. An existing but dormant company was used as the vehicle for the retrenched business.
Two years later, the business has emerged at one third of the original size but trading profitably and with cash flow under control and positive. Currently the company is actively extending its customer base to reach critical mass in its niche market.
3A Manufacturing Ltd is based in Dorset.
Professional business mentoring
Mentoring overview
We have on many occasions acted in various capacities for owner-managers who feel isolated and have the need to talk to an independent and experienced business person in a structured manner.The Greenlys mentoring process
Speed, flexibility and not charging too much are the keys to success in this situation. Being able to see each other easily means we tend to restrict these relationships to clients based in London, Surrey, Hampshire, Dorset, Sussex and Berkshire.
Pro Bono
Corporate Governance
The project involved a five year research effort into how companies are run and what could be changed for the better to the benefit of all stakeholders. The outcome of this research was a submission to three codes of corporate governance (Cadbury, Greenbury and Hampel) that have now been incorporated into the current code as best practice for all public companies in the UK.This project was conducted on behalf of UK plc and its institutional investors.
University of Portsmouth
For 4 years Greenlys have been working with the Centre for Enterprise, a facility that exists to stimulate enterprise. The current projects including PIPEline and the Enterprise Challenge encourage both graduates and undergraduates to explore the world of starting new businesses to find out if it is for them. As well as releasing the entrepreneurial talent that exists amongst the alumni, sustainable new companies are being created in ever increasing numbers.Simon was appointed the University’s first Visiting Entrepreneur in November 2010 and is actively recruiting more Visiting Entrepreneurs from amongst his wider network of successful business people.
Hampshire Chamber of Commerce
| This new chamber has been created to amalgamate the chamber movement in Hampshire and create a new more powerful body whose prime aim is to help its members build their businesses. Simon Greenly was elected Chairman in July 2010.. |  |
