Services

First things first.  ICF is independent and not linked to any larger financial institution or consulting firm. We can guarantee objective advice without conflicts of interest.

ICF is able to provide a wide range of advisory services, but specialises in helping and advising owner managers and their businesses.

With our extensive experience of structuring Management Buy-Outs/Buy-Ins, we assist with the preparation of business plans and financial forecasts, facilitate introductions to debt and equity providers through our strong and established relationships and negotiate the best deal and workable structure for our clients.

Buy-outs and buy-ins are technically complicated, time-consuming and often risky for management teams. We identify and deal with those complexities and risks with management and introduce them to the relevant financial institutions to achieve the best possible equity deal.

We have regular personal contact with the leading venture capitalists, high net worth investors and providers of mainstream and alternative debt finance. We help the management team to produce a business plan which sells the investment opportunity, and guide them through the minefield of issues which they will inevitably face.

We can act as a client’s outsourced M&A department, providing experienced and quality advice in the areas of valuation, deal structuring, deal negotiating, and deal management. We can also identify and research potential acquisition targets and bolt-on opportunities to enhance our clients’ portfolios, open the doors with potential vendors and lead the negotiation process to secure the best possible deal.

We can create attractive acquisition opportunities for our clients by carrying out an exclusive search for relevant targets in the UK and overseas, to a brief agreed with you.

Through dedicated research and extensive personal contacts, we produce a shortlist of relevant businesses within a matter of weeks.

Once you have agreed the target companies, we are experienced ‘door openers’ and initiate discussions with the vendors. We value target companies dispassionately, taking into account the financial and commercial benefits to be gained, and recommend the most suitable way to structure a deal.

We then work to negotiate the keenest possible purchase price in conjunction with you, draft heads of agreement and nurse the deal safely to legal completion.

In circumstances where you have already identified a target or a list of targets, you can hand that list to us, and we will work as part of your acquisition team to achieve the best result for you.

Our extensive network of industry contacts and research capabilities enables us to identify and research potential strategic trade and financial buyers and co-ordinate the preparation of a focused information memorandum and presentation materials. We project manage the entire sale process from approaching potential purchasers, executing appropriate confidentiality agreements, leading the commercial negotiations, and co-ordinating the due diligence and legal processes.

We specialise in the sale of unquoted companies for multinationals, major listed groups, financial institutions and individual shareholders. Our objective is to obtain the best combination of price, form of consideration, deal structure and compatible purchaser within an agreed timescale.

We establish a shortlist of known serious trade buyers and financial purchasers with most to gain from acquiring your business.

By creating a covert competitive bidding situation, leading the negotiations and actively managing the sale process through to legal completion, we deliver the best possible deal, structured for maximum tax effectiveness, whilst maintaining strict confidentiality throughout.

We have extensive experience of advising businesses on their fund-raising requirements on transactions up to 100 million, across a wide range of sectors. Our experience covers all possible scenarios and our entrepreneurial approach to identifying and structuring debt / equity facilities will result in us securing the best possible source of finance for our client.

Many successful private companies reach a point in their development when they can no longer maintain their growth by relying solely on the business’s existing internal resources. An injection of fresh capital at an acceptable price from an acceptable external funding source will often unlock further growth potential. We work closely with owner-managers to assess the funding requirements of both company and shareholders, and determine which forms of external capital are most suitable.

We consider our clients’ options impartially and then leverage our extensive relationships with the UK’s banking and private equity houses to determine suitability, appetite and, of course, cost.  We also have access to alternative sources of finance, such as funds from high net worth investors, if that is a more appropriate source of finance.

Shareholders occasionally look to unlock some of the value tied up in their business at the same time as raising development capital, or as a separate exercise. We regularly deliver this combined solution to meet both shareholders’ and business’s needs