Question 1

What happens after the initial assessment?

Accepted Answer

After the benchmark, we work with you to execute your value creation plan. Our approach is an ongoing, cyclical process. This proven process is informed by product development best practice, typically taking you through an agile and customer-centric process of ideation, research, test & learn experiments, planning and financial modelling, build, and go-to-market launch. We prioritise a small number of high-impact value drivers linked directly to EBITDA growth and multiple expansion. Each initiative is validated financially which ensures every action contributes measurably to Enterprise Value.

Question 2

What is the overall experience of working with Collingwood?

Accepted Answer

Clients describe the experience as rigorous, energising, and honest. We act with a spirit of guardianship, backing well-evidenced risks and challenging assumptions when value is at stake.

Question 3

How does a typical Value Acceleration engagement begin?

Accepted Answer

It begins with a deep-dive validation process to test strategic pre-engagement hypotheses. We work closely with the client project team throughout this stage to ensure that their views are fully heard and understood and to ensure that we are building on their expertise and insight to inform the next stage of the engagement. The objective is clarity and alignment around a set of shared goals and outcomes, including the highest-return growth levers and quick wins, and informs the next phase of the engagement.

Question 4

What does a typical Corporate Finance engagement with Collingwood look like?

Accepted Answer

A typical corporate finance engagement with Collingwood is tailored specifically to our client's objectives, ownership structure, and long-term ambitions. We advise across the full spectrum of corporate finance services, including sell-side (100% sale to strategic acquirers, and minority / majority investment from private equity, as well as other capital events including management buy-outs) and buy-side (strategic review, market assessment, deal advisory), as well as transaction readiness and strategic assessment reviews. Our approach is underpinned by deep specialist expertise in information, media, and events business models and extensive deal experience across North America, UK, Europe, and beyond.

Question 5

In sell-side corporate finance, what businesses and transaction types does Collingwood support?

Accepted Answer

Collingwood works with ambitious businesses, shareholders, and management teams on the sale of their business. This may involve a 100% sale to a strategic acquirer, a minority or majority investment from a private equity investor, or other capital events, including management buyouts.

Question 6

What is Collingwood's role on a sell-side transaction?

Accepted Answer

Throughout every engagement, our focus is on delivering an expertly tailored process that maximises value, minimises risk, and finds the right long-term partner for the business. Our role is three fold: First, we increase the likelihood of a deal completing. Transactions are complex, high-pressure, and never guaranteed to complete without disciplined execution and experienced leadership. Second, we improve the terms of the deal, from headline value, to deal structure, to broader commercial terms. Third, we find the right partner for the business. The ultimate buyer or investor has a direct and material influence over the certainty of a transaction, the terms of the transaction, and future performance on which shareholder value is often dependent. We combine rigorous preparation, strategic positioning, and disciplined execution with trusted, long-standing relationships across a global buyer and investor universe.

Question 7

What does a typical sell-side engagement look like?

Accepted Answer

A sell-side engagement with Collingwood is structured around four clear stages: Preparation, Go-to-Market, Bidding, and Legal Documentation & Due Diligence. While every transaction is different, this framework ensures a disciplined, well-managed process that maximises value, protects shareholders, and improves certainty of completion. 1. Preparation. We take the time upfront to ensure the business, management team, and shareholders are fully prepared for the rigours of a transaction process. This includes ensuring all information presented to buyers is accurate, robust, reliable, and capable of being updated with real-time reporting where required. A core differentiator of Collingwood's approach is the creation of a comprehensive deal data book. This covers detailed financial and commercial information and acts as the single source of truth for the entire transaction. The deal data book underpins all stages of the transaction; including the sales material, trading updates, and due diligence, providing clarity, reducing uncertainty, and driving competitive tension. This preparation-led, data-driven approach is a market-leading feature of how we execute deals. During this stage, we also work closely with shareholders and management to develop high-quality sales materials, including the Confidential information Memorandum, and to map the global buyer and investor universe. Initial priority engagement with the most relevant buyers often begins at this point. 2. Go-to-Market. Once the business is fully prepared and we have answered the questions we expect buyers to ask later in the process, we formally go to market. As lead adviser, Collingwood leads all engagement with buyers and investors. Initial approaches are made on an anonymous basis. Interested parties are required to sign confidentiality agreements before receiving the CIM and entering the process. Our role at this stage is to control messaging, manage engagement, and ensure momentum is maintained while preserving competitive tension. 3. Bidding. Every bidding strategy is tailored to the specific transaction and influenced by factors such as shareholder objectives, buyer appetite, market conditions, and the breadth of the buyer pool. Typically, the process will involve a small number of bidding rounds. As the process progresses, buyers are given increased access to management and more detailed information – via the deal data book – to further clarify their offers and improve terms. Our objective is to drive bids to a level that is both acceptable to shareholders and deliverable by the ultimate buyer. Collingwood leads all negotiations on your behalf, always in close alignment with you. This stage typically culminates in the negotiation and signing of heads of terms, which set out the agreed commercial terms of the transaction and usually include a period of exclusivity. 4. Legal Documentation & Due Diligence. This stage is critical to both deal completion and shareholder value. Buyers will often seek to renegotiate price or terms at this point. Our job is to robustly defend value, rebut negative price adjustments, minimise risk, and keep the process moving. As your lead adviser, we manage the entire legal documentation and due diligence process across all parties, working closely with your legal and tax advisers to ensure all parties deliver to the agreed timetable. Our aim is to minimise disruption to management while maintaining momentum and certainty. Ultimately, this stage concludes with the signing of the legal documentation and completion of the transaction.

Question 8

How do you determine Equity Value (the price I get paid)?

Accepted Answer

It is also important to distinguish between enterprise value and equity value. EBITDA or ARR multiplied by a multiple determines enterprise value. The amount shareholders ultimately receive is equity value, which is calculated after adjusting for the balance sheet position acquired by the buyer — typically on a cash-free, debt-free basis, and adjusted for a normal level of working capital. In information, media, and events businesses, items such as deferred revenue can have a material impact on these adjustments. Our role is to negotiate these positions carefully during the bidding process, ensuring balance sheet adjustments are fair, well understood, and deliver the most attractive outcome for shareholders.

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