Operations Advisory Services

We advise industry management and private equity firms on operational performance and opportunities for growth or realignment. Our clients, both those achieving scale and acquisitive companies seeking integration, require a stable and scalable operational platform. Duff & Phelps addresses the operational performance challenges that come with market disruption often driven by technology and competition to best position the platform for growth.
 
Key Segments of the Growth Cycle:
 
Transactions
Pre- and post-deal for buy and sell side operations improvement analysis to support transaction outcomes of EBITDA opportunity and value creation:

• Operations diligence
• Merger integration

Expansion
Manufacturing, procurement and distribution, logistics design and the centralization of back office functions to support rapid revenue expansion:

• Footprint and capacity strategy
• Operations improvement roadmap
• Back office strategy

Turnaround
Turnaround and operations restructuring to restore profitability when market disruption has impacted financial performance:

• SG&A reduction
• Operations improvement
• Inventory optimization

Portfolio Company EBITDA Improvement for:

• Consumer, industrials and manufacturing business process 
• Merger and synergy analysis for procurement, production and logistics integration

Why Duff & Phelps:

• Senior level, hands-on engagement in pre-deal operations diligence and post-deal operations improvement 
• Improvements in operations that yield EBITDA and free cash flow
• An approach of equal parts instinct and analysis, while pragmatic in our methods
• Deliver results when opportunity value and capture is key, pressure is high and urgency is imperative

Case Studies

Buy-Side Operations Diligence of a Founder-Owned Manufacturer in Transition

A founder-owned manufacturer with high customer concentration experienced rapid growth with new products to a new consumer segment. The manufacturing and assembly processes were entirely manual and absent any planning and process support software (ERP, BOM). A strong relationship with a private equity firm under the letter of intent and a new CEO who had been groomed for two years formed the basis of succession. Duff & Phelps provided operations expertise to develop the roadmap to reposition the business for the next phase of growth.

Key Deliverable Operations Diligence Report

Duff & Phelps Recommended

• Contracting third parties for non-core processes
• Consolidating the footprint to a single manufacturing location
• Implementing ERP on a timeline that addresses employee retention and proper knowledge transfer to yield $3 million (mn) on $4 mn of EBITDA

Turnaround Situation at a Consumer Product Company

A consumer product manufacturer with $60 mn revenue breached its debt covenants due to low EBITDA, made significant inventory adjustments and experienced two sudden executive departures.  Lenders and new management requested Duff & Phelps conduct a rapid assessment of the finance, operations and overall business to identify and prioritize the issues affecting the business and develop the roadmap to restore EBITDA growth.

Key Deliverable Turnaround Plan

Duff & Phelps Delivered

• Restored lender and owner confidence in inventories and financials. 
• Identified $4 mn of potential EBITDA opportunity by: 
• Identifying “red flag” shop floor practices
• Terminating suppliers of routinely defective product
• Relocating manufacturing
• Reducing widespread supply chain operations complexity