Alan Beevor provides strategic Advisory, Analytical and Appraisal services to Institutional Investors and to the companies in which they are invested. The aim is to increase the chances that only investments that will grow in value are made, and that those investments that have been made will maximise value for all shareholders.

The principal services offered are:

Acting as a Non-Executive Director -

• Generally appointed by the Institutional Investor. Alan Beevor has the rare experience of having been an operational company director and of having extensive experience of working for an Institutional Investor. He therefore understands the requirements from both perspectives. He currently acts in this capacity for a number of companies, utilising his considerable experience to act as a "bridge" between the companies' operational management teams and the investors.

Business Advisory Services -

• Advising investors and their investee companies' management teams on strategic and commercial issues focussing on maximising shareholder value.

• Working with Bankers and Corporate Financiers. How many opportunities are turned down for funding for want of a rounded management team? ABA can provide that "bridge".

Business Analysis and Appraisal

• This we call the Commercial Snap Shot

Commercial Due Diligence (CDD) is designed to help acquirors of businesses, be they trade or financial investors, to make decisions about whether or not to commit further to a particular transaction. It is, fundamentally, a risk management tool. It focuses on the target company's management and markets and thereby complements the financial DD. Together they highlight the key issues that will impact upon the opportunities for future value creation of the combined entity.

The quality of the CDD output will depend upon the people undertaking the work and the quality of the information gathered. The decision about whether or not to proceed is then dependent upon the judgement of the people making the decision, heavily influenced by the outcome of the CDD and FDD. CDD may not always result in a stark Yes/No recommendation because, of course, a further element in the acquisition process is price. Both the upfront headline price of the acquisition and the cost of integrating the two businesses post-deal.

CDD will provide a clear picture of the markets in which the target company operates and of its competitive position within those markets. It should also provide a clear view of the management team's ability to achieve the agreed business objectives.

There is no substitute for properly conducted due diligence and in a utopian world of unlimited time and resources, time and cost for CDD would not be an issue! For good or ill, however, we live in the real world. On many occasions the would-be acquiror has decided that it is fully appropriate to proceed immediately to a "full" CDD approach. There are occasions when committing the necessary level of financial resource for this offering is a leap of faith. The result can be either that the "acquisition" is aborted (and consequently the cost of the CDD is irrecoverable from the potential future value created from the acquisition) or there may be the temptation to "justify" paying for the CDD and go ahead with an acquisition that results in value dilution rather than value creation. "Not me", I hear you cry - but it has been known! We can all think of many, and recent, examples of where hasty or ill-judged acquisitions have been repented by shareholders at leisure.

Commercial Snap Shot (CSS) is a DD product offering to the wider market, providing a potent solution when neither the cost nor the time scale for full due diligence is, for whatever reason, available. It can be used at a very early stage when deciding whether to go ahead to full due diligence, or as a sanity check prior to investment, or a review post investment to determine performance issues and what should be done about them.

CSS is based on the experience gained over 12 years successful experience in the Industrial Adviser role with leading European venture capital player, 3i Group plc. This experience is used to take a "view" of any particular situation, at a given point in time.

The CSS process typically takes three to four days, the main variable being the number of sites to be visited and travel involved. One day is typically spent on preparation, studying relevant documentation, the business plan (if there is one), three year's accounts, marketing literature etc, getting up to speed on the dynamics of the business and carrying out background research. This promotes the formulation of key issues and questions to be investigated during the visit. One or two days are spent on the visit/travelling and the final day on further research and referencing where appropriate and writing a brief report.

The report itself contains a brief summary, followed by a conclusion and/or recommendation. These are supported by a commentary covering the main elements of the business - its background and history, operations, market and competitive environment, management and financial overview. Elapsed time is generally one to two weeks depending upon availability.

The report acts in two principal ways. First it provides a strong indication as to whether or not the acquiror should continue with the process. If it does not, then the amount of financial resource committed has been significantly less than a full CDD report. If on the other hand it suggests that the deal is worth pursuing further, the CSS can act both as a useful starting point for the full CDD provider and as a highlighter of the key issues to be investigated in greater depth. It leaves the CDD to be more focused and in that regard serves to ensure that the CDD provides better value for money.

It cannot be emphasised enough that there is no substitute for the full CDD product in any acquisition or integration process. Similarly it is in everyone's interests that it provides the best value for money. CSS is designed to provide a high quality but necessarily succinct overview in order to maximise value for money. Provided that its limitations are clearly understood and accepted, it is a valuable tool that can be used in conjunction with, where appropriate, full CDD.