case study
Risky Business
Europe’s only retail and consumer investment and innovation firm with expertise in understanding and anticipating how digital technology changes consumer behaviour.
challenge
The Problem
Missing context
When it comes to acquiring new companies, every private equity firm knows that conducting good due diligence is more than just good hygiene. Assessing opportunities from every angle is crucial to revealing their full potential and unearthing anything lurking beneath the surface of a pristine balance book. But unfortunately this company had been burned before by unsavory details that went undetected during their standard due diligence processes.
How were they supposed to effectively judge these opportunities without all the relevant information?
So when another interesting deal presented itself, this investment firm decided to try a new approach that unlike traditional due diligence, would take a deep dive into the performance data of the company in question. This time they needed to ensure that all the nooks and crannies that might otherwise be skipped over were highlighted, underscored and in bold.
success
The Solution
Forensic data analysis
By using Conjura to conduct granular transaction level due diligence, no stone would be left unturned! This meant immediately connecting to all of the target company’s cloud based sources of data to see how they measured up across online & offline sales, customer, marketing, product and stock metrics. By cross referencing all of these datasets we were able to provide the most accurate snapshot of this company’s overall performance.
In fact, Conjura also helped to draw up a range of new parameters to seamlessly assess whether future companies would be worth their blood, sweat and investment too. No more messing around!
results achieved
Revolutionised stock forecasting
A small fortune saved!
With Conjura Snapshot, comprehensive analysis quickly identified a major issue with how the target company was acquiring customers: They were paying far too much for the revenue they were receiving! So whilst their sales figures had looked promising, the wider context revealed a critical hitch in their business model.
9 months later that very same company went into administration. Bad news for them, but great news for the investment firm who had nearly sunk £5m into the doomed operation!
After Conjura’s successful steer we went on to help with additional projects by providing due diligence with a ‘First 100 Days Strategy’ component, showcasing how the firm could hit the ground running and add immediate value post-acquisition. As well as narrowing down the firm’s prospective investment list by looking at all recently released accounts automating a lengthy manual task. Allowing them to act on opportunities faster than ever before!
