Journal of
Corporate
Renewal
Nov/Dec
2013
• Expanding production lines to
include products that may not fit
a company’s core competency.
• Entry into new markets, including
oversight and planning to ensure
management has achievable
launch plans without diverting
from the core business.
Services that restructuring
professionals can provide in
addition to support during the
due diligence process include:
• Monthly monitoring of key
operational metrics, including
development of a dashboard.
• Communicating with key personnel
to ensure prospective performance
stays in line with forecasts.
• Identifying potential market
trends and risks and assessing
whether management has plans
to address their impacts.
• Providing board advisory
support and oversight.
BDCs and other nontraditional lenders
may benefit from the experience of
restructuring professionals who have
worked in multiple industries and with
companies of various sizes that have
successfully navigated through varying
degrees of stress. These professionals
can leverage a network developed
through numerous economic cycles
to provide insight not only regarding
market trends at the financial level but
also feedback at the operational level
that can prove beneficial for lenders
who plan to aggressively penetrate
the lower middle market. The value of
being proactive is certainly heightened
in smaller companies, where a slow
reaction to a potential crisis can
result in disproportionate losses.
Leveraging the depth of experience
of restructuring professionals with
pertinent industry and operational
expertise can mitigate risk and
provide oversight of lower middle
market companies that have
become fertile ground for BDCs
and mezzanine lenders. J
Robert Schleizer, CTP, is managing partner and co-founder of BlackBriar Advisors LLC, a business renewal
and acceleration firm comprised of senior financial
and operational executives focused on small to mid-market companies facing challenges in their legacy
business models, current financial position, or existing
operational capabilities. He has more than 30 years of
financial and operational experience serving private
and public companies in financial and organization
restructuring, crisis management, acquisitions and
divestitures, and equity and debt financings. Schliezer
serves on TMA Global’s Finance and Certification
Oversight Committees. He can be reached at
bschleizer@blackbriaradvisors.com or 214-483-1261.
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