CONTEXT
A private equity-backed large-cap financial services group was posting strong growth outperformance in a soft growing market. To give it the institutional profile its success called for, notably internationally, its board had just endorsed a new equity story shaped with Accellency, ahead of a major debt refinancing with leading banks and institutional investors and a first-time credit rating.
The decisive step was what came next: making that story come through in the KPIs the business reported, in the vendor due diligence prepared by a strategy consultancy, and in every document lenders and rating agencies would review.
Three critical dynamics shaped the challenge:
- A financing process leaving no room for error: The new equity story had to be embedded before the refinancing and first-time rating process began. The group could not afford a misread. Its outlier growth raised the stakes further: lenders and rating agencies could discount it as unsustainable, or see it as at odds with the stability they expect from financial services.
- Reporting built for the old equity story: The group’s KPIs and reporting had been designed before the equity story repositioning, around transaction metrics rather than the predictability of the model. Left as they were, these metrics risked contradicting the very story the board had just agreed.
- Several advisers working in parallel: The vendor due diligence, the lender presentation, the rating agency materials and the Q&As were being produced by different parties at the same time. Without a common thread, each risked telling a different version of the story, with different growth drivers, a different sector positioning or even a different definition of recurring revenue.
APPROACH
Accellency worked hand in hand with management, the shareholders and the strategy consultancy in charge of the VDD, turning the equity story agreed in the boardroom into the single reference for every audience.
- Embedding the equity story in the business: Building on its deep knowledge of the group, Accellency rolled the equity story out into day-to-day reporting, KPIs and communication. A gap analysis pinpointed the missing or misleading KPIs, and Accellency defined the metrics anchoring the equity story.
- Aligning the VDD with the equity story: The vendor due diligence frames how the entire financing is read. Accellency worked with the VDD consultancy on the priority areas, from growth drivers and sector positioning to the definition of KPIs, through structured review rounds with management and shareholders. The VDD reflected the equity story rather than running parallel to it.
- Carrying one narrative through all transaction materials: Accellency supported management in carrying the same narrative, investment highlights and KPIs through the lender presentation, the rating agency materials, the investor documents and the Q&As. Every adviser and every document told the same story.
RESULTS
- A record refinancing: The group completed a record refinancing of over €800m in a couple of weeks, alongside a strong first-time credit rating.
- One equity story across every channel: The group’s differentiating strengths now come through consistently wherever it is described, from the KPIs the business reports to the VDD and the lender and rating agency materials, establishing it as an institutional player across the financial ecosystem.
