In terms of transferring an established business requires a solid game plan—one that will guide proactive deal sourcing and opportunistic deal evaluation and more financial capital than setting up a new business. Acquisition financing is the funding a company uses specifically to acquire another company. Bank loans, lines of credit, and loans from private lenders are all common choices for acquisition financing.
Considering all involved stakeholders and the limits of the repayment possibilities of the company under transfer, the most suitable financing solution for business transfer lies in a combination of equity financing, interim financing and foreign capital (issuance of new shares or issuance of debt through loans). In addition, cheap lending has created a new generation of buyers, private equity firms, which have proven the ability to leverage their private equity in high value-added investment projects. Most of the time, there is a timely personalized solution for acquiring and developing a viable business.
Given the business transferring importance, unique financial products such as line of credit (LOC), capital grant, lending rate subsidy, tax incentives should develop by Gov. to support the sector. Moving toward mandatory easy access to financial engineering tools or other forms and participations must give to an investor to facilitate the acquisition and purchase of a specific asset. Chief among them is staple financing, bank guarantees, counter-guarantees, microloans, hybrid financing, venture capital, crowd-funding, seed capital, and start-up funds. To approaching this type of financial assistance acquisition strategy followed by screening Due Diligence Report or Business Plan are necessary. Such incentives would provide additional security not only for the aid provider but also for the transferee.
Funding Sources
Bank Financing
Banks
Regarding Bank Lending (apart from the ESPA and Development Law programs), active programs such as Jeremie and Jessica (for PPP projects), loans in cooperation [with the Hellenic Investment Fund (IfG) & the European agenda for Competitiveness of Small and Medium Enterprises (COSME)] and the Business Restart actions (TEPIX) co-financed with the Entrepreneurship Fund (ETEAN).
Hellenic Development Bank (HDB)
HDB is a link in the financial cycle of financing between the SME and the bank, assuming that part of the business risk of the SME that the bank does not consider. This complementary role establishes it as a reference institution for the development of small and medium entrepreneurship. The HDB aims to promote the economy’s fair, sustainable and holistic development at the regional and national level. The Organization’s primary mission is the active support (in terms of viability) of the Very Small, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) through Lending, Guarantee and Facilitation Programs to facilitate their access to Funding Sources to address and cover any market failures.
European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI)
The European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) is an initiative launched jointly by the EIB Group – the European Investment Bank and European Investment Fund – and the European Commission to help overcome the current investment gap in the EU. It supports high-risk financing for Europe’s micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and strategic investments in critical areas, such as infrastructure, education, research and innovation. The InvestEU Portal (The EU Matchmaking Portal) is the online meeting point for investors worldwide and European Union (EU) project implementers.
European Investment Bank (EIB)
The European Investment Bank (EIB) finances Small & Medium Enterprises (SMEs) through the InnVVin MidCAP Growth Finance program. This program has the financial support of the European Commission through the economic tools of the HORIZON 2020 program . The program enables the EIB to provide loans between € 7.5 – 25 million to innovative companies, to strengthen their investments. The program is of particular interest to Greece because it is aimed at SMEs and oriented towards financing investment projects with serious risk. Through the EIB Advisory Hub, all information can be obtained.
European Bank for Reconstruction & Development (EBRD)
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), in the context of business restructuring, finance companies directly (through the online platform Pillarstone), without the mediation of banks, to implement development investment plans that strengthen their international competitiveness. The EBRD‘s investments, either in loans or as equity investments, are directed to viable businesses.
Fundraising Alternatives
Crowd-Funding
In addition to the traditional ways of financing, there is now Population Financing. It is said to be the development model of the 21st century. The idea of Crowd–Funding began in 1997. The term first appeared in 2006 as one of the four (04) forms of Crowd-Funding (Crowd–Sourcing) distinguished that year by Wired: Crowd–Funding columnist Jeff Howe (collective fundraising), Crowd–Creation (collective creation), Crowd–Voting (collective voting) and Crowd–Wisdom (collective intelligence).
In addition to the traditional ways of financing, there is now Population Financing. It is said to be the development model of the 21st century. The idea of Crowd–Funding began in 1997. The term first appeared in 2006 as one of the four (04) forms of Crowd-Funding (Crowd–Sourcing) distinguished that year by Wired: Crowd–Funding columnist Jeff Howe (collective fundraising), Crowd–Creation (collective creation), Crowd–Voting (collective voting) and Crowd–Wisdom (collective intelligence).
In addition to the traditional ways of financing, there is now Population Financing. It is said to be the development model of the 21st century. The idea of Crowd–Funding began in 1997. The term first appeared in 2006 as one of the four (04) forms of Crowd-Funding (Crowd–Sourcing) distinguished that year by Wired: Crowd–Funding columnist Jeff Howe (collective fundraising), Crowd–Creation (collective creation), Crowd–Voting (collective voting) and Crowd–Wisdom (collective intelligence).
Crowd – Funding divided into three (03) main categories, namely:
- Equity Model
This type of investment involves participation in the capital of a company. In particular: Equity Crowd–Funding concerns the provision of investment services and is an invitation to the public for investment—permission required from the Hellenic Capital Market Commission (HCMC). Yet, to obtain corporate capital by offering shares through the primary market, a prior publication of an initial public offering (IPO) is needed.
- Loans (Lending Model)
- Donations (Donation Rewards Model)
Venture Capital Participation Companies
The Alternative Investment Fund Manager (AIFM) is a Societe Anonyme (SA) company with the sole purpose of participating in venture capital. The AIFM accredited and regulated by the Hellenic Capital Markets Commission (HCMC) and Invests in participation (shares of SA or corporate shares of Ltd.), bonds convertible into shares, guarantees to grant loans, etc.
Listed Funds
A listed fund is a managed fund traded on a stock exchange. They function like managed funds but traded like shares that can be bought and sold during the trading day on the stock exchange. And are actively managed by fund managers to generate alpha and outperform relevant benchmarks.
Listed funds will beat the benchmark using several active investing strategies operating similarly to traditional managed funds but benefit from transparent, live intra-day pricing and market-making ability, ensuring liquidity. They use all available financial financing tools, including loans, corporate bonds, contribute to the share capital, buy warrants, etc. The choice of investments is made on market terms, as these are not subsidies but an investment to develop the company and have a return to all investors.
They are also sometimes known as managed funds, quoted managed funds, active ETFs, Exchange Traded Managed Funds (ETFs), or Exchange Quoted Managed Funds (EQMFs).
COSME Financial Instruments
The program for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (COSME) is improving access to finance for SMEs through two financial instruments that have been available since August 2014.
European Innovation Council (EIC)
The EIC pilot supports top-class innovators, entrepreneurs, small companies and scientists with bright ideas and the ambition to scale up internationally. It brings together the parts of Horizon 2020 that provide funding, advice and networking opportunities for those at cutting edge of innovation.
With this aim the European Commission on the 18 March 2019 published the updated version of the Work Program called Enhanced European Innovation Council (EIC) pilot for the period 2019-2020 of Horizon 2020 program, with the allocated budget of around 2 billion euros. The updated Work Program brings together a number of existing funding instruments and some new features, which will foresee next Horizon Europe 2021-2027 Program. Particularly, the Pathfinder (FET Open and FET Proactive) will support ambitious and high-risky collaborative research projects aiming at developing radical and innovative technologies.
The Accelerator (SME Instrument) will address SMEs and start-ups with radically innovative marketable ideas, with the aim of accelerating their scaling-up on European and global markets.
Among the main changes introduced in the updated version of the Work Program are:
- Phase 1 SME Instrument will be discontinued; the final deadline for applications will be 5 September 2019.
- New financing option, an equity component, is integrated in the current Phase 2 SME Instrument (EIC Accelerator), starting from October 9th 2019. From this deadline the funding will be provided in the form of grant only, or blended finance (combining grant and equity).
- Further details on the equity option will be announced by the Commission in the coming weeks.
- Starting from the 9 October 2019 single beneficiary only (a single company, not a consortium) can apply for Phase 2/EIC Accelerator.
The current Work Program 2019-2020 brings together under the common Framework several Instruments such as Open FETs, Proactive FETs, SME Instruments, Fast Track to Innovation and Inducement Prize, in order to strengthen breakthrough innovations and to provide support to innovative firms and entrepreneurs with the potential to scale up rapidly at European and global levels.
For more information, you could visit this link.
Support & Tools
Due Diligence Report
Successful programmatic acquirers have distinctive capabilities across all the stages of M&A. This includes strategy and sourcing, Due Diligence and deal execution, integration planning and execution, and creating an M&A operating model. Due Diligence is the bedrock of any prospective transaction. Largely confined to financial information two decades ago, acquisition Due Diligence now covers every meaningful dimension of a target company, including strategy, operations, marketing and sales, finance, leadership, and human resources. Strong Due Diligence helps corporate buyers realize greater synergies and paves the way for a smoother transaction process. It can yield vital industry knowledge and insight into profit-enhancing operating changes for private equity investors, among many other things.
Key takeaways:
- Due diligence is a systematic way to analyze and mitigate risk from a business or investment decision.
- An individual investor can conduct due diligence on any stock using readily available public information.
- The same due diligence strategy will work on many other types of investments.
- The due diligence involves examining a company’s numbers, comparing the numbers over time, and benchmarking them against competitors.
- Due diligence is applied in many other contexts, for example, conducting a background check on a potential employee or reading product reviews.
Our M&A blueprints reflect clients’ unique competitive advantages and take the market and regulatory trends into account.
Annual Report
An annual report is a comprehensive report on a company’s activities throughout the preceding year. Annual reports are intended to give shareholders and other interested people information about the company’s activities and financial performance. They may be considered as grey literature. Most jurisdictions require companies to prepare and disclose annual reports, and many require the annual report to be filed at the company’s registry. Companies listed on a stock exchange are also required to report at more frequent intervals (depending upon the rules of the stock exchange involved).
Business Plan
A business plan is a written document describing how a business—usually a Startup—defines its objectives and aims to achieve its goals. A business plan lays out a written roadmap for the firm from marketing, financial, and operational standpoints.
Business plans are important documents used to attract investment before a company has established a proven track record. They are also a good way for companies to keep themselves on target going forward.
Although they’re beneficial for new businesses, every company should have a business plan. Ideally, the program is reviewed and updated periodically to see if goals have been met or have changed and evolved. Sometimes, a new business plan created for an established business that has decided to move in a new direction.
Key takeaways:
- A business plan is a written document describing a company’s core business activities, objectives, and how it plans to achieve its goals.
- Startup companies use business plans to get off the ground and attract outside investors.
- Businesses may come up with a lengthier traditional business plan or a shorter lean startup business plan.
- Sound business plans should include an executive summary, products and services, marketing strategy and analysis, financial planning, and a budget.
Investment Teaser
Teaser, or investment teaser, is a one or two-page summary letter that highlights the sales process and the company’s qualities for the sale of an investment opportunity. The teaser is prepared by the seller (or the seller’s advisor) on a no-name basis to maintain confidentiality and, at a minimum, include:
- A clear description of what services and products the company sells;
- A financial summary of historical results and future projections;
- The geographic area covered by the operations of the business;
- Details regarding the industry, market and competitive landscape that the company operates in; and
- Details on what type of transaction is being sought, i.e. management buyout (MBO), complete sale, partial sale, etc.
It is also critical that the teaser maintain the seller’s information completely confidential by signing a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) to keep matters confidential. The prospective buyer would receive more detailed information about the company following the signed NDA, usually in a Confidential Information Memorandum (CIM).
Corporate Sustainability
Sustainability initiatives won’t create lasting value if they’re poorly managed. Therefore, sustainability studies highlight the viable corporate characteristics, including detailed business overview information (on history, structure, products and services, industry, competition, business SWOT analysis, etc.), the current financial situation, the five years ahead of financial figures forecast and the business perspective. As a result, companies are pursuing sustainability to create value and use sustainability initiatives to manage risk, drive growth, or improve returns on capital.
Proposal Writing
A business proposal is a formal document created by a company and provided to a prospect to secure a business agreement. It’s a common misconception that business proposals and business plans are the same. As a form of persuasive writing, a proposal attempts to convince the recipient to act according to the writer’s intent and, at the same time, outlines the writer’s goals and methods.
The Greek Sustainability Code
The Greek Sustainability Code provides a structured system regarding the transparency and commitment of businesses towards Sustainable Development and Responsible Entrepreneurship. Transparency is one of the critical features of this new tool, where companies can enter data on how they meet the various criteria. The transition to this model is gradual through four (04) levels of compliance, which certified external consultants verify. The registration in the platform (Greek and International) requires an annual subscription which ranges from € 800.00 – 2,500.00 (depending on the corporate size).