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As part of its mission to drive growth and innovation, RLC is continuously developing a strong business and industry network to help start-ups achieve their full potential. At RLC, we seek to provide startups with a comprehensive solution consisting of value creation service and long-term capital, which aligns with our value as a true entrepreneurs’ lifetime partner.
Realizing the need for capital is simply the first step. Determining the right capital structure to best allow your company to achieve its goals is often much more difficult. Our Professional Advisors will guide your team through each step of raising the right combination of debt and equity that is right for you.
Our Professional Advisors will work with you and your bankers to ensure the proper bank lines are in place, which is critical for managing cash flow. We have significant experience arranging:
Operating facilities
Term loans
Project lending
Letters of credit
Margining
Securitization
Government-supported loans
Mezzanine Debt is an expensive form of financing that is typically used for growth stages in a company’s lifecycle when senior bank debt is not readily available and the cost of equity is too high. Mezzanine financing is typically unsecured, carries a high-interest rate (typically 10-24%) due to the higher risk, and typically has more flexible repayment terms. It is often used for short to medium term funding gaps (such as for an acquisition, LBO, working capital bridge loan, etc.)
A Convertible Debenture is a type of loan issued by a company to investors. The Convertible Debenture is generally unsecured and carries a lower rate of interest than Mezzanine Debt, while provides the upside of being convertible into shares of the issuing company.
We also can advise you on how to structure a private equity issuance to increase your company’s equity base. Once a company is large enough, IPOs and secondary offerings would typically be managed by an investment bank. Our Professional Advisors will work with you to choose a proper investment banking partner and develop a scope of work, due diligence package, and assist in providing proper information for the offering documents.
Establishing a value for a private company is not only important for buying or selling a business, valuations are also used for numerous other purposes, such as:
Capital gains tax calculations
Estate planning
Business reorganizations
Family law matters such as fair distribution of assets in a divorce
Mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures
Litigation support
Going public/going private transactions
Our Professional Advisors are trained in numerous valuation methods and will ensure your company is valued in a fair and accurate manner.
Conducting M&A is often a difficult and complicated process. Finding the perfect company to take your operation to the next level is a detailed task that requires a strong understanding of finance, management, and the industry. Let our Professional Advisors help you identify that perfect fit and guide you to a successful partnership, whether that be through a merger or acquisition.
Mergers occur when two companies, typically of similar size, agree to combine their companies into one newly-formed entity. When advising on a merger, a number of key steps are undertaken:
Research on the industry and the potential merging companies.
Operational and risk assessment of the merger.
Quantify realistic synergies and cost savings between the companies to ensure the merger makes sense.
Conducting proper due diligence.
Valuation of the two entities so that current shareholders receive proper values for their shares.
Obtaining shareholder (and in some cases regulatory) approvals.
Development of the communication, change management and implementation plans.
In a typical year, there are more than 2,000 M & A transactions closed in the U.S. each year. Over time, performance has improved. In 1995, approximately 50% of M & A transactions resulted in the surviving company meeting or outperforming the industry sector index. By 2005, this figure increased to 70%.
The most common reasons for underperformance are:
Loss of Key Staff: While rationalizing operations and reducing costs (which often includes reducing staff) may be a goal, sometimes key staff can feel that they are no longer part of the long-term plans of the organization, or are simply poached by competing companies. A retention plan is essential for companies to ensure they have the right staff for the future.
Underperformance: Acquiring another company can often cause discomfort with employees, uneasiness with customers, and can result in staff losing focus on their core businesses. A strong change management plan can ensure staff will keep focused on their growth strategies.
Synergies Not Realized: Overly-aggressive estimates of cost savings and unrealistic growth plans can result in unrealistic expectations, especially in the early years post-acquisition.
Let our team help you mitigate these risks and ensure the outcome of your acquisition strategy reaches its maximum potential.
There are times when a company needs to focus on their core activities and a divestiture is recommended. This could be as simple as selling a product line, or as large as divesting of a division, foreign operation, or company. Divestitures are critical for a company to maintain its operational efficiency and enhance profitability.
To realize the highest value for a unit being sold, a number of steps need to be undertaken:
Complete review of company or division operations.
Review of company or division stand-alone financials.
Corporate clean-up and/or restructuring.
Putting together due diligence package.
Confidentially seeking potential acquirers.
Negotiating terms of the sale including price, company or asset parameters, closing date, personnel issues, communication, indemnification, etc.
Legal closing.
Setting challenging, realistic, and measurable goals will provide your decision-making with direction and purpose. Let us help you reverse engineer your financial objectives to ensure you have a clear path to achieving them.
Deciding whether or not to pursue a new product line, open a new location, or invest in a new piece of equipment? Our Professional Advisors will help you understand the financial impacts of your next project and the effect it will have on your company overall.
Do you ever wonder if your current financial position could be improved? Our Professional Advisors will analyze your current loans, operating lines, and capital structure to determine where money can be saved, investment should be made, and the necessary steps to improving the company's financial position.
Curious to know how you are doing against the industry standard? Looking for advice on areas to improve your company's financial position? Work with our Professional Advisors to determine where you are and what may be next.
Our Professional Advisors will work with your executive team to build a strategic plan that will achieve the company's objectives. No matter the industry, our experienced team will find the path to maximizing your upward potential while minimizing and mitigating risks.
The steps to prepare yourself to leave the company you worked hard to build are often complex. Let our Professional Advisors ensure your transition out of the company is clean, seamless, and profitable.
To grow, compete, and succeed, a company must understand the industry that they are in. Our Industry Analysis Reports identify industry success factors, threats, trends, expected growth (or decline), average profitability, market size, and other industry specific statistics.
Knowing your competitors is just as important as knowing your clients. Our Competitive Landscape Reports gather all the available information on your direct and indirect competition. Understanding each competitor's key competencies and weaknesses will allow you to build a winning strategy.
Having a strong and comprehensive business plan is an invaluable tool for any company. Comprehensive business plans are an essential part of raising debt from banks and credit unions, attracting private equity investors, and identifying risks that could threaten the success of your company.
See below to determine which of our business plans best meets your company's needs:
