Grant Thornton advises ISS UK Limited

A market leader in disaster restoration and specialist decontamination cleans, operating nationally on a 24/7/365 basis. It provides specialist services to enable clients to recover from the effects of water, fire, climate-related incidents and contamination, including the restoration of electrical and electronic equipment and machinery. It specialises in handling major and complex loss situations.

The business operated under two business models: a managed operation ISS Damage Control (DCL) and a franchised operation, Rainbow International (Rainbow).

Following a strategic review of operations, ISS Group decided the businesses were non-core and decided to divest them.

It was considered best value would be achieved if Rainbow and DCL were marketed separately in parallel processes as the buyer pools were considered significantly different.

Our corporate finance advisory and transaction advisory services teams worked closely together and we were able to provide detailed financial information packs on each business to provide bidders with reliable financial information upon which to bid. Clear and careful presentation of working capital minimised the need for detailed negotiations on a normalised level.

Identifying the key strategic bidders and running a phased process to maintain competitive tension was key to maximising and maintaining transaction value throughout the process.