Investment Banking
High-Impact Independent Investment Banking
David Brown and his firm, Red Hawk, are independent of any influences other than those of their Clients. They are not part of a bank, accounting firm or large financial advisory firm. As a result, they offer an unvarnished perspective, a diligent focus on Client needs and senior leadership of every project.
Their M & A focus is on lower and middle market, privately owned businesses.
Sell Side Advisory
Selling one's business is the most important decision one will make. Red Hawk strives to meet Client goals of price and timing of transaction closing. Its sales mandates have included many types:
- Sale to a strategic buyer
- Sale to a financial buyer, non-institutional
- Sale to individuals or family offices
In addition, they have executed successful transactions in different manners including:
- Ordinary sale of assets
- Partial sale of stock of a business
- Controlled auction of a business
- Distressed sale, wide auction process
- Article 9 sale
- Section 363 sale
Each assignment begins with an estimate of current value of the asset to be sold, a detailed discussion with the seller about how to proceed with the sale process, a clear understanding of their goals and commitment of resources to the project and the development of a marketing plan and marketing material.
The process is designed to create a competitive bidding process to maximize value.
Fast Sale Process (FSP) maximizes price while reducing Seller's risk and transaction-related costs. Red Hawk can advise Clients, in the months before beginning the sales process, on how to maximize the value of their business.
Fast Sale Process (FSP) maximizes price while reducing Seller's risk and transaction-related costs. Red Hawk can advise Clients, in the months before beginning the sales process, on how to maximize the value of their business.
Red Hawk has a wide network of buyers, many of whom are looking for hidden gems of businesses that might appeal to a relatively small number of purchasers, but that have a high value.
If you are considering selling your business, prepare your answers to these questions from a potential buyer:
- Who is your management team and how good are they?
- How has the business performed financially in the past 3 years?
- How can it grow?
Buy Side Advisory
Red Hawk has recently led acquisition efforts for strategic buyers, private equity firms and individual investors. Recent industry activity has been in:
- Industrial
- Information technology
- Real estate
It has deep experience in acquisition searches and believe that late 2011 and early 2012 is a very good time to find value investments. Red Hawk has a strong due diligence capability to help Clients identify, close and integrate acquisitions.
Acquisition search process example
Acquisition search process example
Outsourced Corporate and Private Equity Firm/Family Office M & A
Red Hawk meets the needs of corporate clients who are developing and implementing acquisition strategies to grow as well as the needs of private equity investors searching for higher quality deal flow. They source directly from targets as well as from a network of intermediaries and advisors.
Red Hawk's Clients are often corporations, private equity firms and family offices. For private equity professionals and business development groups, Red Hawk is a solution to a basic challenge – staying in the market – in the face of the many distractions such as tending to the operational and financial needs of existing portfolio companies, executing a transaction, refinancing a current investment, fund-raising, or generally running a business, that can take executives and principals away from generating new investment opportunities.
Red Hawk's professionals work closely with their Clients to develop reasonable transaction criteria, lead the search and target/intermediary interaction and as needed, analysis, modeling and negotiations of terms. They have deep knowledge of industrial, online and traditional business service markets as well as of commercial real estate.
Current searches include: online marketing and data analytics firms with revenues from $2 mm to $6 mm located within 3 hours travel from Cleveland, industrial firms with normalized EBITDA from $2 mm to $10 mm (this search includes turnarounds).
Capital Raising
Red Hawk meets the needs of corporate clients who are developing and implementing acquisition strategies to grow as well as the needs of private equity investors searching for higher quality deal flow. They source directly from targets as well as from a network of intermediaries and advisors.
Red Hawk's Clients are often corporations, private equity firms and family offices. For private equity professionals and business development groups, Red Hawk is a solution to a basic challenge – staying in the market – in the face of the many distractions such as tending to the operational and financial needs of existing portfolio companies, executing a transaction, refinancing a current investment, fund-raising, or generally running a business, that can take executives and principals away from generating new investment opportunities.
Red Hawk's professionals work closely with their Clients to develop reasonable transaction criteria, lead the search and target/intermediary interaction and as needed, analysis, modeling and negotiations of terms. They have deep knowledge of industrial, online and traditional business service markets as well as of commercial real estate.
Current searches include: online marketing and data analytics firms with revenues from $2 mm to $6 mm located within 3 hours travel from Cleveland, industrial firms with normalized EBITDA from $2 mm to $10 mm (this search includes turnarounds).
Capital Raising
Red Hawk has significant experience in helping businesses raise senior, subordinated and equity for both growth or restructuring purposes. The debt markets are very active now and with collateral values improving as well as profitability, many companies can improve their capital structures and reduce their debt service cost.
Valuations
Red Hawk's Valuation Practice Leader, Brad Eldridge, CPA/ABV, ASA, CIRA, CFFA, MBA, has been serving Clients for more than 30 years. Areas of expertise include:
- IP Valuation
- Transaction advisory
- Financial and Tax Reporting
- Goodwill impairment
- Purchase accounting
- Portfolio company valuation
- Litigation advisory including family law
- Solvency and fairness opinions
- Shareholder and Successor planning
- Estate and gift tax matters
- Stock repurchase
- Buy-sell agreements
