CSR Cosmetic Solutions
Acting as exclusive advisor to the seller.
Background
CSR is an Ontario-based, contract manufacturer of cosmetics and personal care products. The CEO and sole owner had operated the business for over 15 years and was ready for a well-deserved retirement. A sale process run by a top-tier accounting firm in 2015 was unsuccessful.
Solution
Undeterred by the accounting firm’s result, our M&A Advisory team dug deep into the company’s performance and metrics. We identified 102 potential buyers, both strategic and financial, through a search that went global and surfaced only 26% Canadian prospects. We created an auction-like environment that yielded 8 offers by the deadline, with Korean and American buyers making the most aggressive proposals. We overcame major cultural differences with the eventual winner, a Korean publicly traded contract manufacturer, and arrived at a deal in the upper end of the initial value guidance. The post-acquisition integration process was highly productive and the company is now growing under new ownership.
Case Studies
Decisive Technologies
Decisive Technologies is a value-added reseller of IT hardware, and BriteSky Technologies is a Canadian, managed cloud services provider (collectively “Decisive”). Decisive needed additional capital to accelerate its expansion plans. The shareholders were adamant that a new institutional partner should share their values and vision for the company, and FirePower was engaged to find an acquirer for a majority stake and negotiate a deal structure that met all of the shareholders’ objectives.
Corrosion Service
One of three equal shareholders of Corrosion Service, an infrastructure services company, approached FirePower, seeking to buy out the other two. Although this was a highly sensitive situation, we were able to structure a deal that led to a successful close.
Market Insights
From the archives: October 2019
Will Canadian M&A Activity Peak in 2020/21?
M&A is thriving in North America. It’s a seller’s market, but how long will that last? While 2019 got off to a slower start…