Manager / Associate Director, Special Situations M&A

The Role

The Special Situations M&A team is part of Capital Advisory within Teneo Financial Advisory. The team provides tailored M&A solutions across stressed, distressed and insolvent /bankruptcy situations. We pride ourselves on both maximizing value and delivering deal certainty in challenging conditions.

Since its inception in 2008, the Special Situations M&A team has completed over 150 transactions across a broad spectrum of size (typically £5m to £200m), sector and situations.  We are currently looking for a Manager / Associate Director to join our growing and successful team.

As a Manager / Associate Director in the team, you will have the opportunity to work and lead on a diverse range of engagements across all sectors, with plenty of responsibility for leading workstreams, managing junior staff and supporting Directors, Managing Directors and Senior Managing Directors in client-facing delivery. 

Our diverse team advises boards, banks, investors and the management teams of companies who are underperforming, in financial stress or distress or considering a particularly complex or difficult transaction. The team is sector agnostic and clients are located typically across the UK.

The core offering encompasses:

• Accelerated M&A – M&A in accelerated timeframes (typically 9 days to 9 weeks);
• Non-Standard M&A – M&A mandates involving underperforming and/or financially stressed businesses and stakeholders which require a bespoke M&A strategy. Examples include carve outs of underperforming non-core subsidiaries of corporates or highly leveraged companies economically owned by its lenders; and
• Strategic M&A advisory – Advising on strategic restructuring options including M&A strategy.

This is an excellent opportunity to work alongside our established team who will support you to utilise and enhance your advisory skills and experience. You will work alongside some of the most experienced practitioners in the field advising the boards, management teams, lenders and shareholders of companies which are underperforming and/or facing any financial stress. There is also an opportunity to work closely on projects with the other Financial Advisory service lines along with the wider Teneo firm.

 Key Responsibilities

Client service

• Advising on a range of sell-side and buy-side transactions, managing all parts of the engagement on a day-to-day basis, providing support to the Senior Managing Director/Managing Director/ Director in advising clients and managing external stakeholders.
• Overseeing the day-to-day management of transactions which includes preparation and delivery of information memoranda, management presentations, valuation analysis and taking responsibility for the preparation of information and client communications.
• Act as a lynchpin of project team, ensuring deliverable timelines and project strategy are communicated to the junior team and being seen as the ‘go to’ contact on most day-to-day process matters.
• Supporting management teams in preparing and challenging business plans, short term cash flow forecasts and Financial Advisory plans and taking ownership of the financial information provided by clients.
• Lead engagement with buyers and investors, oversee due diligence workstreams and demonstrate an ability to pre-empt key questions of importance to buyers and conduct relevant analysis in advance as well as challenging client explanations where appropriate (including complex issues)
• Input into buyer negotiations and liaise with the Company’s legal advisors and understand the key issues of SPAs/APAs and how commercial terms may impact the transaction.
• Develop, analyse and present Financial Advisory options using input from other teams where appropriate (e.g. insolvency or tax analysis, sector and financial modelling).
• Preparation of engagement letter(s) highlighting any key points for discussion with senior team members and ensuring adherence to all compliance requirements.
• Manage the Quality Risk Management processes at all stages of the project (take-on, engagement letter, document review etc), including consultation with senior team members and the compliance function when appropriate.
• Apply an understanding of engagement economics and financial and risk management.

Knowledge acquisition

• Build client relationship skills, sector knowledge and continue to develop leadership skills.
• Continue to build technical expertise, broader business advisory and people management skills.
• Understand the market, topical issues and our Financial Advisory and wider Teneo propositions.

People and leadership

• Support practice and talent development.
• Provide on-job coaching and development to staff.
• Develop junior staff outside of jobs through appraising and mentoring.
• Support wider Financial Advisory training initiatives.
• Manage diverse teams within an inclusive team culture where people are recognised for their contribution.
• Have a broader perspective of potential issues encountered when managing diverse teams and the strategies to overcome them.
• Demonstrate a clear understanding of the company’s commitment to creating a more inclusive culture.

Business development

• Demonstrates good awareness of topical issues in the Special Situations M&A market in the UK and can talk to the key themes in client/BD/internal meetings
• Start to own elements of business development and deal origination including actively supporting business development activities, researching and taking ownership of specific industries, building and expending your own contact network and supporting Senior Managing Director/Director/ Managing Director-led marketing and sales activities.
• Identify opportunities to expand jobs as well as opportunities to provide wider Teneo services to existing clients.

Key Skills & Experience

• Financial Advisory experience gained either as an M&A advisor within a professional services company, consultancy or investment bank or as an investor in a debt or special situations fund.
• A deep understanding of Corporate Finance and M&A advisory including experience in, or a genuine interest in, Special Situations.
• An understanding of insolvency and alternative transaction delivery mechanisms alongside an understanding of debt markets, banking, loan agreements, historical financial performance and future outlook for client companies and targets and other relevant financial and legal documentation.
• Solid understanding of deal structuring and implications for transactions (including difference between share deals vs asset deals, solvent sales vs. pre-packs/admins)
• Good understanding of the Financial Advisory marketplace, its trends, and key players (principals and advisers) and the Special Situation investor community. Specific sector awareness is not a prerequisite by may be helpful.
• Capability to develop and implement innovative and bespoke M&A strategies for each transaction.
• Excellent numeracy skills with keen attention to detail and the ability to absorb and interpret large amounts of data quickly.
• Strong commercial and business diagnostics acumen with very strong analytical skills.
• Client and team focus, with ability to work quickly and to establish effective working relationships.
• Excellent communication, meeting, presentational and interpersonal skills.
• Logical and meticulous approach to problem solving.
• High level of project management and organisational skills with ability to lead teams and develop people.
• Ability to undertake detailed financial/commercial exploration for inclusion in client reports.
• Proven track record in business development activities and pitching
• Ability to conduct business in fluent oral and written English is a pre-requisite.

 

The Financial Advisory team at Teneo

Teneo’s global Financial Advisory business advises corporates, creditors and other financial stakeholders in situations of financial stress and distress. No two situations are the same. Our advice and approach is tailored to each situation and each client.

At Teneo, we believe such occurrences present new opportunities for our clients. Opportunities to restore value, raise new capital, pivot in a new direction and ultimately, identify certainty amidst chaos. Teneo partners with clients to find viable opportunities that will protect and enhance value and help them to build strategies that will most benefit their business and/or investment goals.

Integrating the disciplines of restructuring, financial advisory, management consulting, investor relations, strategic communications, government affairs, risk analysis and talent advisory, Teneo’s global team guides companies and their stakeholders through periods of uncertainty and stress. We help address the challenges a business faces, whether that is targeted performance improvement to financial restructuring, or delivering a route to recover value, our focus is delivering certainty from uncertainty.

 

What can we offer you?

New joiners are supported by a week-long induction programme, and continuous improvement is achieved through a structured and tailored programme that suits your career development. Six-monthly promotion opportunities mean high performers can rapidly rise through the company

As well as this we offer a whole host of benefits and reward including;

• Market-leading Salary
• 28 days holiday plus 1 DEI day
• Discretionary Bonus Scheme
• Cash benefits package
• Pension
• Extensive investment in personal development & learning
• Enhanced maternity and paternity leave (depending on length of service) and shared parental leave
• Group Income Protection 
• Life Assurance
• Cycle to work schemes
• Regular social, cultural and charitable activities

 

About Teneo

Teneo is the global CEO advisory firm. We partner with our clients globally to do great things for a better future.

Drawing upon our global team and expansive network of senior advisors, we provide advisory services across our five business segments on a stand-alone or fully integrated basis to help our clients solve complex business challenges. Our clients include a significant number of the Fortune 100 and FTSE 100, as well as other corporations, financial institutions, and organizations.

Our full range of advisory services includes strategic communications, investor relations, financial transactions and restructuring, management consulting, physical and cyber risk, organizational design, board and executive search, geopolitics and government affairs, corporate governance, ESG and DE&I.

The firm has more than 1,600 employees located in 45+ offices around the world.

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