Restructuring / Turnaround Professionals

As a professional advisor to companies in bankruptcy or other forms of restructuring, you are presented with many challenges. The initial approach to a new assignment undoubtedly requires some time "at 30,000 feet" assessing the situation at its most elemental level. How is its industry structured? Who are its competitors? What is the basis for competition? What are the success factors in this business? How is this particular company structured? How does it need to be structured to succeed going forward? What are its current strengths and constraints?

When all these questions, and dozens of others, have been answered sufficiently to move ahead, the real work begins tearing apart the old and reassembling the new. In this phase, it is probably not uncommon to find gaps that need to be filled to move in the new direction. If the company does not want or is unable to spend the financial or human resources to fill that gap through adding staff or acquiring a company with those strengths, perhaps some form of joint venture or other Collaborative Business Structure might be the best answer. Providing advice on structuring that collaborative arrangement either as a member of your team (visible to client) or working for you (not visible to client) is at the core of what The Chesterfield Group does.

Example

You are working on a new Chapter 11 restructuring. It is early in the process, and you are determining which pieces to keep, which ones to close down and which ones to try to sell. You are frustrated with a particular unit that doesn't fit neatly into any of these three categories. Perhaps, its products are healthy but don't fit into the future product line contemplated but sale is difficult because it relies for its success on some connection with the rest of the "keep" company. A call to the Chesterfield Group could help you quickly develop and think through alternative structures, such as a joint venture, licensing agreement, etc.