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What We Do
Understand. Invest. Prosper.
How We Work
Working together pre-deal
The focus in this period will be on working closely together to set out the agreed strategy…in our view this is the fundamental step in the acquisition process. Getting this right enables the right capital structure to be put in place. One consideration would be whether to seek external debt funding or to utilise the Gresham debt underwrite product.
This agreed plan will be subject to due diligence but we seek to focus this process on key areas and thereby speed up the acquisition.
Working together post-deal
The partnership continues, operating as businessmen and not financial engineers. We are skilled in progressing strategy, encouraging growth and providing further capital. When the time comes, we have sold over 100 companies over the past 15 years, so we know how to maximise value.
The strong relationships built up pre-deal will continue post-deal. These will be supplemented by the expertise of our dedicated portfolio team.
We seek to add real value both through helping to deliver tangible profit growth and through our expertise in managing exits.
How we help
We want to actively contribute, alongside you, to the success of your business – that is what partnership is about. Here are some of the ways we bring real value through over 50 years of successful investing.
1Expertise and capital for acquisitions
2Internationalisation
We have developed a number of predominantly UK businesses into companies operating internationally. Examples include Beck & Pollitzer which grew dramatically from a UK centric business to one serving five European markets and Swift, which has gone from having a handful of overseas branches when Gresham invested, to now having businesses in energy hotspots all across the globe, from China and Russia to Azerbaijan and the US.
3Purchasing efficiencies
We bring together the purchasing power of our combined portfolio. Collectively, we reduce operating costs through our buying club. Examples include saving Dimensions over £40,000 a year on their mobile phone costs and numerous software licence savings. We also encourage businesses in our portfolio to create opportunities for each other. Examples include Town Centre Restaurants and West Cornwall Pasty Co. using joint purchasing.
4Cross-selling
Having Gresham as a partner means being part of a growing portfolio of businesses. This provides numerous cross-selling opportunities. Examples include 7city providing financial training to other Gresham investee business and Olaer selling its products through the Flowtech catalogue. Esterform also supplies its products to our other portfolio companies.
5CEO, FD and IT forums
We believe in promoting discussion across different businesses and sectors. We run CEO, FD and IT forums throughout the year to stimulate debate and opportunities. These are well attended and illustrate our commitment to working together in partnership.
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Business First
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