Strategic acquisitions: how to unlock the benefits Gregg Pendlington of Dow Schofield Watts’ corporate finance team explains what type of deals can be considered strategic and how to structure them to achieve the best outcomes A strategic acquisition can transform a business in a number of ways. As well as enhancing value through combination synergies, … Continued
Jolly Hockey sticks?! – Understanding the underlying profitability profile of a growing business by Gavin Harrison During my early days in banking, while learning the signs of what a ‘good business’ looks like, something that I regularly heard from Credit departments and Senior Management was “Another Hockey Stick forecast! Seen a thousand of these, they’ll … Continued
5 reasons to split your property from your business Entrepreneurs value the security of owning their own premises but there can be drawbacks, especially if you are selling the business. Gerard Lucas from Dow Schofield Watts’ corporate finance team explains when it might be best to separate the two. For many entrepreneurs, there are few … Continued
Hot property: How to cash in on the e-commerce boom Record demand for industrial and distribution space is opening up new opportunities for owners and occupiers. Simon Wood and James Dow outline four ways they can benefit With over a third of all retail sales now made online, the race is on to find enough … Continued
James Dow speaks with the Business Desk about the buoyancy of the deals market In a fireside chat at Invest North, James Dow, founder of Dow Schofield Watts and Stewart Haworth, director of debt finance at OakNorth Bank, spoke about the buoyancy of the deals market through the economic recovery and how they have been supporting … Continued
Women in accountancy: Interview with Jill Jones Jill Jones is the former North West Regional Managing Partner of RSM where she was also a main board director and acting COO until her departure in June 2020. She is now a Non-Executive Director at Dow Schofield Watts and a number of other organisations. Here she talks … Continued
Busting finance jargon with Roger Esler #5 Valuation bridges, debt, normalised working capital, earn-outs, VLNs, retained interests, conduct provisions and put/call options There’s business valuation and then there’s business valuation. To vendors, valuation often means the final cash consideration, or “equity value” that they actually receive for their share capital in what can be a … Continued
Busting finance jargon with Roger Esler #4 IBOs, MBOs, LBOs, SBOs, TBOs, MBIs and BIMBOs The decision for business owners to pursue a private equity (or financial buyer) exit route versus a trade sale process is a fundamental one. In Busting Jargon #3, the challenges and risks of mixing two processes together, when each can … Continued
Busting finance jargon with Roger Esler #3 Pre-emptives, limited auctions, wide auctions, twin track, triple track, sales agents, business brokers, spaghetti There are many ways to manage a business sale processes depending on the specific attributes and qualities of a particular business, the nature of its buyer audience and the objectives of its shareholders. It … Continued
Busting finance jargon with Roger Esler #2 Non-core disposals, carve outs, strategic divestures & corporate simplification Large corporate groups are evolving organisms that can go through fits and starts of acquisitions and disposals. The drivers for periodic bursts of such activity can be strategic, financial or both, but the catalysts can include a change in … Continued
Financial preparation to enhance or protect value in transactions Planning ahead is key to getting maximum value in corporate recapitalisations, refinancings and disposals. Well-presented, well-packaged opportunities are likely to generate the most interest and achieve best value. Poorly-presented opportunities run the risk of elongated timetables, price chips or failed processes. Our new paper looks at … Continued
How has the UK Deals Market been affected by the Covid-19 crisis? What is the current state of play, and what are the emerging deal themes as we come out of lockdown? The Dow Schofield Watts Corporate Finance and Transaction Services teams in Yorkshire & the North East give their views in this document. We … Continued
An interview with our new Non-Executive Director Heather Lauder Heather Lauder joined us as Non-Executive Director earlier this year and brings over 30 years of experience in retail and business banking to Dow Schofield Watts. Heather talks to Nicole Burstow, Finance Director about why she joined, first impressions and the future for Dow Schofield Watts. … Continued
Due Diligence process tips: COVID-19 considerations for vendors DSW Transaction Services acts as a financial due diligence provider to both buyers and sellers. Despite the current environment, we have a number of deals ongoing in resilient sectors. However, the impact of COVID-19 and the UK lockdown is universal and the following is a summary of … Continued
VAT changes to e-books – not the end of the story yet Recently the government trumpeted the news that they are ‘fast-tracking’ the VAT changes to e-publications by introducing VAT zero-rating on 1st May, rather than on 1st December. However, what is not being reported so widely is that HMRC have been resisting (and I … Continued