Begbies Regulatory News (BEG)

21 January 2013

Begbies Traynor Group launches BTG Financial Consulting

Begbies Traynor Group ("the Group"), the specialist financial advisory services provider, today announces that, as part of the ongoing development of its advisory services, it is launching BTG Financial Consulting (BTG FC) which will incorporate the Group's restructuring services-led practice.

BTG FC will specialise in Financial Consulting, Restructuring and Turnaround, Forensic and Risk Consulting and Technology Consulting.

The team will draw on its existing specialist expertise within the Group, offering a comprehensive range of multi-discipline services under one brand. Utilising the extensive capabilities of its domestic teams as well as the 100 specialist firms around the Group's international network, the team will advise UK and international clients facing strategic, financial and commercial challenges in order to protect and enhance their enterprise value.

Clients, who are operating in increasingly complex markets, are seeking senior led advice and solutions and BTG FC's mix of experts from a wide range of disciplines will allow us to offer truly innovative and bespoke solutions to meet those clients' needs. Working within BTG FC will be a separate team of high value restructuring specialists, the members of which have an established track record of working with leading financial services companies to provide added value solutions in turnaround situations.

Mark Fry, Partner at BTG Financial Consulting, commented:

"The evolution of BTG Financial Consulting marks a key milestone in the development of our advisory offering. By bringing together our wide-ranging expertise and deep sectoral knowledge under one team, we are well positioned to serve the needs of our corporate, bank and private equity client base in a market which increasingly requires a multi-disciplinary approach to complex situations."

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For more information contact:

MHP Communications 020 3128 8100

Katie Hunt / Jade Neal / Giles Robinson / Nick Hayns

begbiescorporate@mhpc.com 

Notes for Editors:

BTG Financial Consulting (www.btgfc.com) is a leading provider of business support and financial consulting services which help clients identify and resolve strategic, financial and commercial challenges. Its senior partner-led team has extensive experience of advising corporates, banks and private equity houses on and managing complex stakeholder relations during a wide range of restructuring, refinancing, turnaround, litigation and investigation, and merger and acquisition situations as well as on ongoing risk management.

Specific examples of key experience and areas of expertise include:

·; Appointed Adviser to the bank in relation to a multi-bank restructuring of a major chain of care homes, providing ongoing advice and helping negotiate with other banks.

·; Appointed to the Landlord Restructuring Committee of Southern Cross, who managed the restructuring of this high profile case.

·; Appointed to deliver and oversee operational turnaround, cash stabilisation and the subsequent sale of Hull City FC.

·; Appointed to work with a 160 site food retailer to deliver and oversee cash management, debt restructuring and landlord and key creditor negotiations.

·; Appointed to investigate the restructuring options available to a listed PLC. The assignment included intensive cash management over a 7 month period, an accelerated marketing process resulting in the sale of core trading subsidiaries, managed wind down of non-core trading subsidiaries and a refinancing of bank debt within the Group.

·; Appointed by a public company to review a portfolio of approximately 120 separate manufacturing companies across many different jurisdictions in EMEA and the Far East. We identified several issues facing the group, including group management structure and strategy, difficult and indistinct bank relationships, and property and taxation issues. Following facilitated strategic workshops, we were able to recommend strategies to exit the non-core businesses whilst protecting and optimising value in the client's investments in these and the core businesses.

·; Appointed by a service sector client with a turnover of £140m, up to £16m of invoice finance debt and approximately 150 employees after losing two significant customers amounting to £50m of annual turnover. Initially focusing on short-term stability; we identified and minimised the cash requirement, which was met by negotiating extended credit terms with key suppliers and securing the ongoing support of the incumbent bank, avoiding imminent insolvency. After stabilising the business we developed a restructuring plan which would lead to a profitable and cash generative business. This allowed us to obtain increased working capital funding through a refinance of the senior debt facilities and to raise mezzanine finance from a private equity house.

·; Appointed to setup a 'newco' following the demerger of a privately owned group of 30 companies engaged in a variety of activities such as textile trading, property development and property finance.

·; Appointed to assist in the arrangement of a new debt facility for a leading energy support services provider. We were able to assist their finance team with developing the right information to deliver to investors and use our detailed knowledge of bank processes to negotiate the right covenants and banking structure.

·; Appointed to investigate allegations of director fraud for a company that had gone into administration. Over a terabyte (1,000 gigabytes) of data was processed in a matter of a few days to uncover any evidence. Within days, evidence was located that suggested wrongdoing on the part of a former director.

·; Appointed to conduct an investigation into possible intellectual property theft by a client's former employee and to commence an internal investigation into the activities of several current employees.

·; Appointed to investigate the local companies, their directors and the overall business profiles following a joint venture agreement between the exploration arm of an international oil and gas operator in sub-Saharan Africa.

·; Appointed to conduct an investigation by a major European petrochemicals contractor who suspected it was the victim of industrial espionage.

·; Appointed to investigate an offshore company which had been set up as a special purpose vehicle for a specific contract involving $21m, with the funds channeled through Jersey, Cyprus and Russia, following concerns as to the existence of shadow directors who really controlled the companies.

BTG Financial Consulting is part of Begbies Traynor Group, the specialist financial advisory services provider which employs more than 500 people across a network of over 34 UK offices and is listed on AIM.

N.B Due to the sensitive nature of our work it is not always possible to name our clients.