Moore Colson’s Consulting Practice Releases its 2021 Year-End Highlights
Friends,
We hope your year is off to a great start. In the second half of 2021, our Consulting Practice continued to grow and service our clients at the highest possible level. As you will see from some of the examples we share below, we continue to provide value-added services to clients across many industries and in a wide variety of circumstances. All our consulting professionals are dedicated to providing these services on a full-time basis, so our team is ready to assist you regardless of the season. We greatly appreciate the trust and confidence all of you have in our consulting team and our firm, and we look forward to working with you in 2022.
Sincerely,
Christ Tierney, CTP, CFE, Partner, Consulting Practice Leader
Thank You, Tim!
With deep gratitude and a congratulatory spirit, we announce the retirement of Moore Colson Partner Tim Ayres, CPA. Tim joined Moore Colson in 1985 and has had a monumental impact on our firm, clients and employees throughout the past 36 years.
At Moore Colson, Tim brought invaluable insights to business owners, CEOs, CFOs, private equity firms and investors with his innate ability to connect with all disciplines of a company and affect meaningful change. He guided the firm’s Consulting Practice through times of rapid growth and expansion, spearheading and managing more than 250 transaction-related engagements during his time as Consulting Practice Leader. Without his ability to understand client issues in-depth and his desire to develop sincere, lasting relationships inside and outside the firm, we would not be where we are today.
Please join us in honoring Tim with his much-deserved new role as a Moore Colson Legacy Partner. Congratulations, Tim!
Robin Samples, CPA, Named Transaction Services Leader
Moore Colson named Partner Robin Samples, CPA, as the head of transaction services for the firm’s Consulting Practice. Samples joined Moore Colson as a partner in April 2021, bringing over 20 years of experience working in financial advisory, mergers and acquisitions, and restructuring. In her new role, she will lead growth initiatives for the Transaction Services Practice while continuing to provide clients with buy-side and sell-side strategic consulting.
Meet Our New Consulting Director: Wes Scott, CIRA
Moore Colson recently announced the addition of Wes Scott, CIRA, as a director in Moore Colson’s Consulting Practice. Scott brings over 18 years of experience serving clients as both a lender and consultant focusing on assisting lenders with due diligence, as well as restructuring and bankruptcy for debtors, lenders and unsecured creditors. We are excited to welcome Wes and look forward to him bringing his extensive experience to assist Moore Colson clients.
Year-End Review: Engagement Highlights
Moore Colson Consulting is comprised of two distinct practice areas:
- Transaction Services offering buy-side and sell-side due diligence/quality of earnings analysis.
- Special Services offering turnaround and restructuring, interim management, forensic accounting, litigation support, debt advisory, mediation and arbitration, lender services, and court and estate fiduciary, among others.
Below is a selection of engagement highlights from both practice areas in the second half of 2021.
TRANSACTION SERVICES
Transaction Services Engagement #1: Buy-Side
Overview:
We performed buy-side due diligence on an $8 million revenue, Florida-based company in the distribution industry.
What made this engagement particularly interesting?
The client was having difficulty obtaining EBITDA on a product line and divisional basis.
How we added more value:
Moore Colson extracted divisional financial information and compared the data in order to detail gross profit. We removed intercompany transactions to validate the gross margins by division, which helped verify financial performance for the business.
Transaction Services Engagement #2: Sell-Side
Overview:
We performed sell-side due diligence on an $18 million revenue, Atlanta-based company in the technology industry.
What made this engagement particularly interesting?
The company was a cash-based technology business with a limited accounting department, which resulted in revenue recognition issues.
How we added more value:
Moore Colson performed a sell-side quality of earnings (QoE) analysis, including due diligence adjustments related to gross margin and revenue recognition. The analysis and adjustments helped the client close on the transaction in December 2021.
Transaction Services Engagement #3: Buy-Side
Overview:
We performed buy-side due diligence on a $36 million revenue, Wisconsin-based company in the construction industry.
What made this engagement particularly interesting?
The company temporarily handled payroll and insurance on a cash versus an accrual basis.
How we added more value:
Moore Colson reviewed the supporting documentation and recalculated asset and liability balances with offsets to the income statement. This engagement also required our team to gain industry knowledge into the operational process of paving.
Transaction Services Engagement #4: Buy-Side
Overview:
We performed buy-side due diligence on several service providers across the United States in the veterinary industry ranging in size from $5 - $30 million in revenue.
What made this engagement particularly interesting?
The client was interested in acquiring several similar service providers in a short time frame while having limited accounting functions.
How we added more value:
Moore Colson performed buy-side QoE analyses, which included proof of cash and payroll analyses for a high volume of deals within a short period. We assisted with final deal valuation, allowing the client to decide whether to move forward, renegotiate or terminate the deals. The analyses helped the client close on several deals in 2021.
SPECIAL SERVICES
Special Services Engagement #1: Bankruptcy Examiner
Overview:
We were appointed as an Examiner for a $5 million revenue, Georgia-based company in the hospitality industry that filed for bankruptcy.
What made this engagement particularly interesting?
The company filed for bankruptcy to forestall foreclosure. During the process, the bankruptcy court required the appointment of an Examiner to analyze the ongoing Property Improvement Plan (PIP) and a variety of historical transactions.
How we added more value:
A Moore Colson Partner was appointed as the Examiner of the company. With the firm’s previous experience in managing hotel properties and extensive forensic capabilities, we were able to effectively perform the analyses of the PIP and the historical transactions.
Special Services Engagement #2: Receivership
Overview:
We were appointed as the Receiver for a Georgia-based company in the healthcare industry that was in default.
What made this engagement particularly interesting?
The assisted living facility was in default with its bondholders, who required the business to sell its assets to repay the bonds.
How we added more value:
Moore Colson helped facilitate the auction of the facility and managed the process through closing. We also worked with the operator to manage cash flows and facilitate payments to other creditors.
Special Services Engagement #3: Forensic Investigation
Overview:
We investigated the historical financial results of a business venture for an Indiana-based client in the real estate industry following a dispute between investors, which left the client as the sole remaining investor in a property later found out to have a lower value than the client was previously aware.
What made this engagement particularly interesting?
The client invested in a real estate venture that included a commercial building and unimproved land. After the venture sold the commercial building, a dispute arose among the three investors resulting in the other two investors leaving the business. When attempting to sell the remaining undeveloped land, the client was made aware of limitations on what could be constructed on the property resulting in a decrease in the property value.
How we added more value:
Moore Colson performed public record searches into the historical profitability of the development and other adjacent properties owned separately by the client’s former business partners. After completing the investigation, we also referred the client to an attorney to potentially pursue legal action.
Talk to an Expert
If you need Transaction Services or Special Services from our Consulting Team, we would appreciate the opportunity to pull our team together to host a virtual meeting or in-person chat. As described in our recent engagements, our team of experts is available to assist with a wide variety of services. We look forward to continuing to work with you in 2022.
