An acquisition is usually dictated by the will to increase the company’s size faster than would be possible by means of normal internal growth, with the aim of improving the company’s competitive position and of creating synergies and making economies that would be difficult to repeat or achieve in the short term. In such cases, Equita K Finance will first ascertain that there is no discrepancy between the financial operation and the underlying strategic plan, evaluate possible alternatives, and analyse the costs of the acquisition or the yield of an assignment. Then, the operation will be given a structure, a configuration will be established of the more suitable financial, fiscal and corporate modalities, and finally, an interested party will be looked for, and selected. Equita K Finance will support the entrepreneur and the company at all stages, from the first negotiation to the closing of the deal, deploying and coordinating a negotiation team that also includes lawyers and auditors.

Such operations are conducted to raise funds for the acquisition of companies by internal or external entrepreneurs, private investors or managers who do not have the necessary resources themselves. A leverage buy-out maximises the lever action on the buyers’ limited resources, using the indebtedness of the company to be acquired for the production of a sufficient cash flow to repay the loan granted to the company used as the vehicle for the acquisition.

In the case of out-of-the-ordinary financial operations, it is necessary, in the first place, to value the object of the envisaged transaction so as to provide clients with a comprehensive and exhaustive picture of the economic, financial, historical and entrepreneurial realities of the parties involved in the project. Such a service is also of primary importance in other moments of a company’s life, namely whenever it becomes a priority to know the economic and financial value of one’s own company.

The start-up and development processes of, among others, biotechnology, biomedicine, information technology and Internet companies require funds to be raised right from the first stages of their lives. Equita K Finance will assist high-tech companies in the drawing up of a strategic business plan and of financial statements, organise the road shows to present the project to the investors’ communities in the major European cities, and manage the entire fund-raising process in the following rounds, right up to initial public offering (IPO) on stock markets specialising in SMEs. In such operations, speed is the key success factor. Equita K Finance’s effective integration in an international network of venture capital funds enables the company to operate in a quick and efficient manner, with direct access to investors.

It is often necessary to play a leading part on the market to improve the company’s image and to diversify with regard to fund raising. Equita K Finance will accompany clients through all the preparatory stages of the listing, bringing to bear its profound knowledge of the markets and of the main exponents of the European stock exchanges for SMEs on the pre-listing evaluation of the company, the selection of the investment banker, the presentation of the company to the investors, etc.

Equita K Finance provides a consulting service – with or without a time limit – for the optimisation and re-balancing of a company’s financial structure. The aim is to achieve consistency between the company’s mix of capital sources and its strategic investment objectives and the maximisation of its value.