Mergers and acquisitions
Target identification and assessment, commercial due diligence, and advice through to completion. On the sell side, preparing a consumer business so its commercial position stands up to a buyer's questions.
LRV Advisory
Judgement on the decisions that change what a business is worth.
We advise corporates, investors and boards on acquisitions, disposals and market entry in the consumer sector internationally, and we open the doors that decide whether the plan behind a deal is deliverable.
Discuss a mandateMost consumer deals are priced off a model and lost on an assumption. Whether the listings hold, whether the margin survives contact with a retailer, whether the distribution is a relationship or a contract. We are the people who know the answers, because we have been inside the accounts that decide them.
Where we advise
Market entry
Whether to enter a market, how, and what it will realistically cost. Channel structure, route to market, the competitive set and the partners worth having. The UK, Ireland, Europe and North America.
Network and introductions
Access to the counterparties that decide whether a plan works. Buying and category teams at some of the world's largest grocers and retailers, plus the distributors and operating partners in the market you are entering. Approached directly, because we already work with them. For an investor, that is the difference between a growth plan on paper and one with a route into the accounts that have to deliver it.
Commercial due diligence
An independent read on a target's commercial position. Are the listings secure, is the rate of sale real, is the customer concentration a risk, and what happens to the plan when the retailer changes its mind.
Operators, not analysts
A strategy house will model the market. We will tell you how the retailer will actually respond, because we have been on both sides of that conversation. On a consumer deal that is usually the difference between a defensible number and an expensive one.
- Years on both sides of the buying desk, in the UK and internationally
- Operators who have built, listed and run consumer brands in national retail
- Experience across food, drink, health and beauty, household and pet
How a mandate runs
Mandates are scoped individually and priced by the piece of work, not by the hour. Most start with a two-week commercial read that tells you whether the deal or the market is worth pursuing at all. If it is not, that is the most valuable two weeks in the process.
1
Scope
We agree the question, the timeframe and what a useful answer looks like.
2
Read
The commercial work, the conversations, the numbers. Usually two to six weeks.
3
Position
A recommendation you can take to a board, and support through to completion if you want it.
If you have a decision in front of you, start there.
Tell us the question and the timeframe. We will be straight about whether we can add anything to it.
Discuss a mandateConversations are confidential. We do not disclose client names or mandates.