Addressing critical strategic and financial challenges
We advise clients on the valuation of middle market businesses, the structuring and execution of strategic transactions, and other critical financial, operational and management issues.
Business Owners
Middle market businesses face new challenges as they achieve each stage of growth. Some may need to institute more rigorous controls, or transition from an entrepreneur-led to a manager-led organization. Others may need to optimize their product range by adding or shedding lines of business. Still others may need to address succession or ownership issues, or merge with larger organizations to fulfill their potential.
Corporate Fuel works with business owners, senior executives and boards of directors to address these kinds of strategic challenges. Our clients come to us with a wide variety of goals, including but not limited to such important issues as:
- Evaluating strategic alternatives
- Preparing a business for sale
- Identifying and sourcing potential buyers
- Initiating, negotiating and executing a sale
- Responding to an unsolicited offer
- Raising capital to pursue growth initiatives
- Identifying and acquiring new lines of business
- Improving financial management and governance
- Augmenting the leadership team
- Enhancing management practices
- Demonstrating a viable growth strategy
- Creating shareholder liquidity
- Addressing vulnerabilities in the business
- Restructuring, reorganizing or refinancing a balance sheet
- Developing a plan for accelerated growth
- Creating a succession plan
Corporate stakeholders
Senior executives and directors of public companies may need to engage an independent outside advisor to complement their internal resources with specialized financial and strategic expertise. Corporate Fuel works with the management and boards of public and private companies on a broad range of assignments such as:
- Assisting with an identified acquisition project
- Evaluating and selling a business or business unit
- Outsourced corporate development services to research, identify, source, negotiate and execute strategic acquisitions and investments
- Company or business unit valuations and fairness opinions
- Capital structure assessment
- Agent for private placements of senior debt, mezzanine debt, or equity-linked or equity securities
- Raising capital to pursue initiatives
- Evaluating new or existing industry segments to determine appropriate capital allocation or adjust overall investment strategy
- Evaluation of options to maximize shareholder returns
- Evaluating share repurchases, special dividends and dividend strategies
- Recruiting additional senior business leaders or board members
Professional advisors
Corporate Fuel partners with attorneys, bankers, accountants and wealth managers to help them serve their clients more effectively. By sharing our expertise in business valuation, business strategy and capital structure, we enable professional advisors to address the core goals of business owners and engage them in broader, deeper discussions about their private company holdings:
- Enhancing client relationships through a focus on realizing value
- Establishing a dialogue around business and personal strategies rather than discrete products or services
- Sharing our research on business valuation, analysis and insights on ways to enhance business value
- Providing added expertise to supplement an existing advisory role
- Developing joint banking, legal, accounting or wealth management solutions
- Providing introductions to complementary service providers
Private equity firms
Our expertise in business valuation and capital raising enables Corporate Fuel to provide specialized services for private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies:
- Offering deal flow for platform or add-on acquisitions
- Raising bank and mezzanine financing so the firm’s professionals can focus on investment activities
- Acquisition search to accelerate growth of portfolio companies
- Leadership team recruitment for portfolio companies
- Restructurings and refinancings to allow private equity professionals to focus on their most productive activities
Private investors
Through our private equity investment fund, Community Fuel Investment Partners, we enable private investors to participate in the growth of promising middle market companies. Our goal is to partner with existing management teams in established operating businesses with successful track records in growing markets:
- Offering deal flow not appropriate for the institutional investor marketplace
- Outsourced investment management activities to assist in evaluating investment opportunities
- Valuation of existing interests in operating businesses
- Recruitment of operating executives to better manage private company interests or family office staff
Realizing Full Value
Corporate Fuel helps successful businesses address the challenges of growth.
Read our case studies