Recent articles published in our monthly briefing to Equity Club members
The European Consulting M&A Report 2008
July 2008
This report follows our inaugural 2007 version and provides you with comparative annual data for the past five years (2003 to 2007) on consulting market M&A activity and sale values achieved in relation to sales revenue and profit. It includes the changing source of buyers and a valuable commentary on how the market dynamics are moving for both buyers and sellers of consultancy firms. NEW in this year’s report is a review of typical deal structures achieved in the sector as well as a guide to valuing a consulting firm. more
We get asked this all the time! As you may know, Equiteq tracks all announced merger and acquisition deals in the European consulting sector on a daily basis. We now have reliable data to the end of April 2008 and this is the picture more...
The process of selling a consulting firm can be a fragile affair where all the initial goodwill and grace between you and the buyer can quickly turn into negotiating stand-offs and eleventh hour fall-outs.... more...
Nothing is much more exciting than the prospect of selling your consulting firm and gaining financial security from the business you’ve worked hard to build, but the M&A road is littered with casualties where the positive has turned negative because of bad foresight, planning and preparation. more...
Once again my attention has been caught by John Doerr of Wellesley Hills Group and a series of his articles titled '10 Things I Hate About You'. John addresses a vital issue for the equity growth of consulting firms...how to avoid the pitfalls of sales hatred and develop new clients at the same time as growing old ones. more...
When I ran WCI Group I accidentally grew the firm to £4m in 11 years! Then I climbed aboard what we now call The Equity Growth Wheel and it took only another 7 years to grow to £63m. As the leader of a consulting business there are eight levers you can pull to increase the speed of the wheel and the equity growth of your firm. If you build your strategic business plan around them, then you can ratchet up the value of the firm and your pension fund. Ignore them and you may have to live off your annual income for a long time! So let me tell you all about the wheel and its eight levers of equity value. more...
Through the course of our M&A work we’ve been astonished at the scale of the marketing communications failure in company websites right across the consulting industry. This is a problem I feel duty bound to share with you, because if your website is not fit for purpose, not only does it lengthen the odds of you being acquired, it’s also eliminating your company from prospective clients doing online research for products and services. How important your website is to your business may not be obvious to you, so read on to learn about what we’ve discovered. more...
In his 2007 Pre-Budget Report, the Chancellor announced a major change to Capital Gains Tax (CGT) taking effect from April 2008. It effectively amounts to an 80% CGT increase from 10% to 18%. This means that if you sell your consulting firm in the UK after the change takes place, you stand to lose 8% of the capital gained on your shares to the Treasury. So if you want to take immediate steps to avoid this, or assess the longer term implications for consulting industry M&A, then read on. more...
You know the story, there’s been little else discussed in the financial press over the last few weeks…the US sub-prime crisis has hit global equity markets like a bombshell. So what's the likely impact on M&A for the consulting industry? more...
Whoever said "Profits are an opinion, cash is fact" certainly had her or his head screwed on the right way around! This is a sentiment echoed ... more...
By Paul Collins, July 2007
We get involved in valuations for several reasons. Often the stimulus for a company sale starts with an understanding of the value of your firm ... more...
Paul Collins, July 2007
This excellent article by John Doerr of the Wellesley Hills Group really grabbed my attention and I highly recommend that you read it. If you obey his 10 Commandments, you'll go a long way to increasing the quality of your sales pipeline and thereby addressing the most important factor for equity growth and value of your firm... more...
By Paul Collins, June 2007
In the past few months I have seen far too many firms who are working very hard at full utilisation but struggling to build any real... more...
The most important factor by far in maximising the value in your consulting firm is your ability to forecast sales revenues. If you don't have a sales and marketing machine, then it's highly unlikely that this will be possible. Read on to find out how sales and marketing can have a dramatic influence on a valuation of your firm and the 4 KPI's that you need on your scorecard. more...
When I’m working with clients, one of the big things I notice that separates those on the equity growth curve from those that aren’t is the quality of the sales pipeline and the disciplines that feed it. The other day I was in one such client who showed me how they gather contacts and harvest them into leads; it’s so simple it’s almost annoying! Read on to find out how they’re doing it and who told them how. more...
What is motivating most consulting firms to acquire, and what are the Private Equity firms and investors doing to make their money in the consulting M&A market place? more...
Managing a big change successfully takes world class planning, organisation, and communication at any level. Thinking of merging your organisation with another consulting company? Paul Collins shares his merger war stories and offers his top tips on the definite do's and don’ts for a successful merger… more...
Are you sitting comfortably with a steady supply of leads from word of mouth and referrals? That’s great news. However it may not be enough to feed the growth curve you desire and it induces a level of vulnerability into your business that could cause investors to downgrade their view of the equity value of your firm. If you want a predictable and steady supply of leads that isn’t wholly reliant on people, then you need to take some marketing action! more...
