Consultancy services in mergers and acquisitions

ARKARYS office handles successfully cases of company sale or of company takeover, and carries out a significant number of company valuations
In particular, ARKARYS office carries out for certain customers the annual valuation of their company within the framework of multi-annual contracts
ARKARYS office intervention gives rise to the previous signature with the seller of a detailed intervention contract

Assistance in company sale

We are assisting:

SME owners who intend to sell their business in order to retire and/or focus on another project,
industrial groups which intend to sell a subsidiary which is no longer part of their core business,
private equity firms which intend to sell a company in which they had invested.

We deal with cases which are ranging from limited enterprise values to enterprise values up to 15 M€.

We are dealing with the case from A to Z, turning if necessary to the specific skills of partners whom we pilot and coordinate.

On a case, the different generic steps of our intervention are the following, being understood that the below mentioned generic methodology may be adapted according to our customer particular needs:

Step 1 - Valuation of company market value
Step 2 - Drawing up information memorandum and teaser

Step 3 - Search for potential buyers

We set with the seller the search strategy for potential buyers; search may include if necessary direct approaches, and may as well include if necessary indirect approaches (for instance: a communication to the market through putting an ad on a specialized website); we take care of the right validation of the profile of the potential buyers who have expressed a first interest in the case; during the whole search period, we see to it that confidentiality is strictly managed.
Step 4 - Negotiations
Step 5 - Contractualization

Assistance in company takeover

We are assisting:

individuals intending to take over a company,
SMEs, industrial groups or private venture firms intending to carry out external growth operations.

We deal with cases which are ranging from limited enterprise values to enterprise values up to 15 M€.

We are dealing with the case from A to Z, turning if necessary to the specific skills of partners whom we pilot and coordinate.

On a case, the different generic steps of our intervention are the following, being understood that the below mentioned generic methodology may be adapted according to our customer's particular needs:

Step 1 - Validation of the company takeover project

Step 1 quality is key for the success of the takeover process.
In a case of company takeover by an individual, turning if necessary to the skills of a certified coach, we identify candidate's project in both professional and personal matters, then we carefully analyze his(her) personality / professional career / potential / undertaking dimension / desires / legitimacy / financial capacities / ... in order to check the perfect consistency between candidate's project and candidate's profile; we return analysis results to the candidate in a totally transparent way; then decision is made to validate the project as such, to refine or modify it, or as the case may be to abandon it; in case of project continuation, on the one hand we have at our disposal strong and convincing arguments pleading for the perfect consistency between candidate's project and candidate's profile, on the other hand we carry out a first tailor-made centring of target companies.
In a case of external growth of a SME, of an industrial group or of a private equity firm, we carry out an in-depth diagnosis of the customer, of its problematics and of its environment, and we suggest or validate its external growth strategy; we work out an attractive teaser about customer and its external growth project, and we carry out a first tailor-made centring of target companies.
Step 2 - Tailor-made search for target companies on the open market and on the hidden market

Step 2 is constituting a key and original component of our assistance offer; step 2 success is highly depending on step 1 performance quality; we firstly validate with our customer target companies specifications; then we carry out in parallel a search on the open market and a search on the hidden one; as far as the open market is concerned, we submit sale files to our customer, who then states if it/he/she wants or not to go deeper into the file; as far as the hidden market is concerned, we draw up in cooperation with our customer a large list of potential target companies; following a preselection carried out by our customer, we approach the target companies designated by the latter, and we detect the target companies open to discussion; then we put our customer in touch with the corresponding potential sellers; subsequently our customer ranks in priority order its/his/her preferred targets on both the open market and the hidden one.

Step 3 - Negotiations and contractualization

We assist our customer in the first talks with the potential sellers; we carry out diagnosis and valuation of the priority target company(ies), then we assist the candidate in takeover legal and financial arrangements definition, in takeover business plan drawing up, and in search for takeover funding; we draw up a draft letter of intent, then we assist the candidate in the negotiation with the seller of the terms of the letter of intent, until letter countersignature by the seller; if necessary, we suggest experts for due diligence audits performance, whom we pilot and coordinate; we assist our customer and its/his/her lawyer in the negotiation of the contractual documents (preliminary takeover agreement, assets and liabilities guarantee agreement, takeover agreement, as the case may be shareholders agreement), we assist it/him/her in the finalization of takeover funding raising, and we monitor the realization of the suspensive conditions, this until takeover closing.

Company valuation

ARKARYS office has developed real skills for the valuation of the market price of a company.

For that, it has developed over years an elaborate company financial appraisal method which includes 3 steps.

First step consists in carrying out a diagnosis of the company, in analyzing its past performances and its current situation, in analyzing its market, in assessing the global risk affecting the company, in reprocessing as the case may be company P&L and/or balance sheet, finally in drawing up a complete and reasonably cautious multi-year business plan.

Second step consists in selecting the technical company valuation methods to be used, and to compute company value for each of these methods.

Third step consists in defining the weighting mix of these methods in order to obtain an average weighted value for the company.

Then, a values bracket is defined for the company, the central point of which being the average weighted value.

Following company valuation, ARKARYS office hands over to its customer an elaborate computation file, which includes a number of arguments enabling to defend the obtained market price.

Track record in M&A consultancy

ARKARYS office is in a position to operate in most business sectors; as an illustration of this point, ARKARYS office has dealt until now, in matters of consultancy in M&A, with cases belonging to following business sectors:

● sector of the design, production and marketing of various products:

o   defense equipment,
o   special machines,
o   ergonomic equipment,
o   storage systems for industry,
o   AGV (Automated Guided Vehicles),
o   electric charging stations,
o   lighting systems,
o   high voltage converters and power supplies,
o   accessories for IT and electronic equipment,
o   complex dosing systems,
o   measuring instruments,
o   persons counting systems,
o   radiation protection equipment,
o   fire safety systems,
o   industrial gas burners,
o   wooden products,
o   primary packaging for the pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries,
o   secondary packaging for the luxury sector,
o   ready-to-wear clothes,
o   fashion accessories,
o   liqueurs,
o   premium wines,
o   food supplements,
o   pharmaceutical products.

● industrial sub-contracting sector:

o   machining works under sub-contract,
o   boiler-making works under sub-contract,
o   manufacturing of electronic boards and of electronic equipment under sub-contract,
o   sawmill works,
o   manufacturing of luxury perfumes under sub-contract.

● B2B trade sector:

o   packing machines for the luxury sector,
o   measuring instruments
o   couplings and technical fittings,
o   professional communication equipment,
o   building materials,
o   hardware products,
o   electric equipment,
o   heating and air-conditioning systems,
o   video-surveillance equipment,
o   tableware products,
o   kitchenware products,
o   home maintenance products,
o   do-it-yourself products,
o   individual protection equipment,
o   perfumes,
o   cosmetics,
o   wines and spirits,
o   uniforms,
o   mechanized farming equipment,
o   professional lawn mowers,
o   gardening products,
o   car spare parts.

● construction sector:

o   building engineering,
o   audits of buildings,
o   real estate diagnosis,
o   metallic carpentry,
o   property renovation,
o   finishing works in buildings,
o   design and installation of fire detection / intrusion detection / access control / video / surveillance systems in buildings,
o   design and installation of networks cabling systems,
o   drilling works for various networks conduits.

● B2B services sector:

o   sensory testing,
o   food testing,
o   environmental testing,
o   assessment of cosmetic products conformity with regulation,
o   measuring instruments maintenance and calibration.

● IT sector:

o   software edition,
o   IT management of cash transactions.

● medical sector:

o   medical testing,
o   pharmaceutical CRO (“Contract Research Organization”),
o   nuclear medicine center,
o   production of radiotracers,
o   sterilization of medical services.

● media sector:

o   organization of events,
o   organization of corporate seminars,
o   advertising agency.

● training sector:

o   professional training institute.

● at home services sector:

o   provision of at home cleaning services.