Room for Entrepreneurship

Crisis management, turnaround & recapitalisation

CONTEXT

Manufacturer of industrial air and environmental products and provider of maintenance and installation services. Offices in the Netherlands and France. Annual losses erode capital structure. Structural liquidity squeeze. Unable to meet repayment obligations on acquisition financing. Bank demands capital injection. Complex stockholder structure created by combination of private equity and multiple founding families located in different countries. Resulting deadlock leads to threat of bankruptcy.

ROLE

Interim CEO responsible for turnaround and recapitalisation. Reorganisation and restructuring of costs to align expenses with revenue. Repayment agreements with lenders, creditors and tax authorities. Boost commerce. Focus on margins and working capital. Rationalise production process. Recapitalise the company by attracting new equity.

RESULT

Company regains profitability. Private equity fund acquires stake in company. Business continuity and employment safeguarded. Debts restructured. Existing shareholders given minority interest in healthy company.