In the prevailing economic environment, organic growth is hard to achieve in a timely manner, making acquisitions an attractive strategy for businesses looking to expand quickly.
Moving into a new product or geographic area through acquisition can make economic sense when compared with the costs of innovation, or of building a distribution network. A buy-and-build strategy can significantly accelerate the growth of a business, including for those that have already invested for organic expansion.
In the current market both high-quality cash generative trade acquirers and private equity firms with significant funds to invest are looking to deploy capital across a range of acquisition opportunities.
How Grant Thornton can help
Our collaborative approach starts with gaining an understanding of a buyer’s rationale for an acquisition and the key drivers underpinning the decision.
We research and identify target businesses, both domestically in the UK and globally, working in conjunction with our National Research Group and drawing on the breadth of our international network. Through our understanding of vendors’ aspirations and the depth of our sector specialist knowledge we provide insight on the ideal match for a buyer’s business.
Competition for high-quality assets has never been higher and we are accustomed to working both discreetly and in competition with other potential buyers. We approach potential targets and negotiate with them on your behalf. We develop the offer, negotiate the key terms and undertake due diligence to ensure a smooth completion.
Our advice is complemented by Grant Thornton’s full service offering and, if the acquisition is not being funded from your own resources, we can assist you in raising finance. We provide insight into the optimal structure of debt and equity, using the expertise of our financial modeling experts to create an integrated business plan. If you are looking for equity investment we have access to all the main private equity houses, not only in the UK, but also Europe and the US. Our Debt Advisory teams can advise on where to raise debt.
For public companies our Public company advisory team has extensive experience advising on the regulations imposed by The City Code on takeovers and mergers.
