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
Last Call Analytics
When FirePower first met Last Call Analytics, the company was building custom big data analytics and visualization software platforms for frontline sales staff, primarily of beverage & alcohol distributors, but also for clients in other industries. Last Call needed capital to grow, as well as strategic guidance to develop a stronger revenue model and focused direction. FirePower invested both capital and hard work, shifting the revenue model, focusing its resources, and ultimately, helping the company achieve its potential.
GrowthGenius
GrowthGenius is an AI-assisted sales prospecting service provider for B2B businesses, based in Toronto. The company needed financing to fund its rapid expansion. Raising equity was unappealing because of the high cost of dilution, so the founders sought out a debt solution. After meeting with multiple lenders, they selected FirePower, whose efforts to get to know the founders, understand the business, and tailor a loan structure that worked for the company and its owners proved to be the difference.
Market Insights
From the archives: July 2020
The Case for M&A During COVID
The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown the world into unprecedented crisis. The IMF predicts that real GDP will contract by 7.6% in 2020 globally1. This…