Identifying Customer Spending Trends and Company Perception of Material Processing Equipment Manufacturer
In an auction situation, conducted customer and market due diligence to identify customer spending trends and perception of the target company for the buyer. Identified potential for a near-term decline in recent sales levels and uncovered customer concerns regarding the target company's customer service and product innovation, leading the buyer to back away from the aggressive pursuit of the company.
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Validating Market Potential of an Add-On Acquisition at Specialty Plastic Container Manufacturer
Conducted 146 customer interviews and market sizing analysis to support an add-on acquisition of residential plastic container manufacturer by a PE-owned $400MM commercial steel container company. Analysis validated market potential and customer perception of the target and since the deal closed, the target has been outperforming projections.
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Validating the Economic Prospects of a Geographic Area for Truck Parts Distributor
Conducted market research and economic assessment of the state of Michigan to validate the geographic market entry strategy of a leading distributor of trucking products evaluating a $30MM add-on acquisition. Effort included a robust profile of the state’s economy, including a 5-year industry-level projection/modeling of state GDP and employment, and a detailed analysis of the state’s business and regulatory environment. Client proceeded with acquisition based on projected near-term growth estimates.
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Determining Branch-level Margin Expansion Opportunities And Market Position
Conducted 2-week customer & market and operational due diligence to: validate capture of pricing and operating efficiencies at acquired companies; establish local market dynamics and target’s competitive positioning; and assess regulatory and substitution threat. Gotham: surveyed ~750 propane consumers in target’s service areas; identified/profiled key competitors and conducted 32 competitor interviews in target’s local markets; analyzed zip-code-level propane supply, consumption, pricing, and heating degree day trends; determined pricing optimization and segmentation opportunity; assessed substitution threat from natural gas, electricity, and heat pumps; and analyzed pricing, delivery, and backoffiice expenses at 25+ acquisitions. Comfortable with the target’s opportunity to acquire family-owned local propane distributors and capture pricing/operations improvements, our client was able to move forward with an aggressive but well-informed bid.
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Assessing Consumer Willingness to Buy and Lender Willingness to Finance a Lower-priced Product for Leading Mobility Products Distributor
Assessed consumer willingness to buy a lower-priced product and lender willingness to finance the product. Through a consumer panel survey of high-wheelchair-usage consumers (either users or caregivers), and a survey of target’s customer and prospect database, Gotham established that WAV is a need-based product that offers significant quality of life improvement -- a new lower-priced product would open up another ~20% of market. Through our ability to get to the right auto lending decision makers, we were quickly able to establish what the target should expect in terms of financing and which lenders to target. Our client was excited about the opportunity, presented our findings to the target’s management, and pursued a more aggressive bid.
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Validating Market Growth Outlook And Cost Savings From Consolidating Operations To Regional Hubs For Global Pressurized Dispensing Packaging Components Manufacturer
Conducted 2-week due diligence to validate sell-side estimates of market growth outlook and operational savings from consolidating 18 manufacturing facilities in 15 countries to 4 regional production hubs. Gotham undertook a comprehensive assessment of each operational initiative, including feasibility, changes to original plan, further opportunities, capacity dynamics, labor savings, material cost savings, overhead cost reduction, freight cost impact, CapEx, and one-time costs. Gotham estimated ~$15MM in total savings, 50% above the sell-side report and determined $12-13MM in CapEx/one-time costs. For market growth, Gotham conducted extensive research and interviews with industry participants to understand key product and packaging trends and built a bottom-up market model, projecting a 5.5% CAGR market growth (~2% lower than sell-side estimate). Our client pursued the target with a revised bid taking into account the lower market growth and the higher operational savings opportunity.
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