I am an Equity & Investment Fund
Q: We have funds to invest and are looking at taking a majority position in a shipowner or a very focused operator with strong engineering and a strong market position. At the moment we are still open minded about whether our target should be a general contractor operating globally or to narrow that down to specific niches and geographical areas. We would like to start by having a discussion about our objectives and investment philosophy, and obtain your overview of the potential of the various routes we might take within the limits of a 5-8 year exit.
Q: For the past three years we have owned a shipowner outright, and currently we cannot see any exit. The market has stagnated. There are no takers for the business in its current form. We are looking now at diversifying the core service of the business, through acquisition, moving either vertically or horizontally, in an effort to broaden the appeal and broaden the range of potential buyers. Which way should we go, up, down, left or right, and which companies should be our targets as our game-changing diversification? We are willing to allow the existing business to be reversed into the new business, as a minority component if necessary, so long as the new combined business is transformed into something more attractive.
Q: We have financial models for three potential targets, with commercial strategies and operating scenarios, and we would like to have them analysed. Firstly: they need to be fault-tested for any weaknesses. Secondly: they need to be enhanced with any overlooked values that we have not identified. Thirdly: when we look at these targets, they look broadly the same to us on the surface and we are facing a difficulty in identifying and separating the herd-leader from the herd?