Case Study

New Start With A New Generation — Retooling a Family Business For The Future

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Insights

  • A well-established 35-year-old family-owned chemical distribution company (with approximately $12M annual revenues) had a successful business with a national footprint and was known for quality and service.
  • Despite this success, the founder did not have a structured succession plan.
  • As a result of his death, the transition from the founding generation to the second generation occurred and the business passed to the founder’s children, with his daughter stepping in to be the controlling shareholder and CEO.
  • The daughter soon realized that the business was not well-positioned to move forward.
  • Existing business systems, tools, and employee discipline required improvement, and the company had stagnated while the competitive environment had intensified.

Action

  • The Newport partner was retained to assess the business and assist the CEO and her leadership team to identify and articulate a vision for the future.
  • Following a company assessment, action plans were crafted to achieve the CEO’s vision for the future.
  • The Newport partner worked directly with the company’s leadership team to develop and implement the necessary commercial, financial and human capital plans. A management reporting structure was also put in place so the team knew the health of the business.

Results

  • The company applied the new plans to its operations and employees. In order to address long-standing liabilities, the Newport partner helped the CEO arrange a partial sale of the business to offset liabilities and provide liquidity for the future.
  • The remaining assets and resources were utilized to serve a local customer. Ultimately, the remaining business was sold to a larger sector-focused business that was looking to expand into the local market.
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