Colombia is an attractive place to do business. The workforce is excellent, inflation is low, and the logistics infrastructure is very good. Contact us for further information on Colombia and on how a shorter supply chain impacts profitability.

European PE deal flow got off to a strong start in 1Q 2017. The value of PE deals completed totaled only slightly less than the figure from the previous quarter.
The PitchBook 1Q 2017 European PE Breakdown lays out datasets covering deal flow, exits and fundraising from across Europe, with a special highlight of activity within the UK.


Report Highlights Include:

• With more than €82.5 billion in deal value comes in only slightly behind the total invested during the same period last year.
• Fundraising has continued its frenzied pace as PE firms amassed €18.7 billion in commitments across 30 vehicles in 1Q, setting the year on pace to beat last year’s €72 billion total.
• UK deal flow has largely mirrored that of the rest of the continent since Brexit, even picking up during the first quarter. In fact, the last two quarterly totals are each more than the amounts seen leading up to and immediately after the referendum.

​IF CROSSING BORDERS WERE EASY…
                        COMPANIES WOULD NOT NEED GLOBAL BOARDROOM SOLUTIONS!
 
Common issues:
       Expansion outside of home market is required
            To support key customers
            To attain growth targets
            To defend against competitive threats
       Existing operations outside of the home market are underperforming
            Lack of experienced in-country management
            Supply chain issues
            Product adaptation issues
            Competitive and regulatory constraints
 
How has Global Boardroom Solutions’ expertise been utilized to accelerate implementation of successful strategies that have overcome these common issues?
CASE A
A third-party logistics provider was called upon to service their largest customer in markets where the logistics provider had no existing operations. This created a competitive threat because the customer already had a global supply chain and had decided that one integrated global supply chain management system needed to be implemented. The company faced the threat of being replaced globally (even in the home country) if one of the incumbent-third party logistics suppliers in the markets outside of the home markets was chosen to provide the global system.
By identifying local management and acquisition targets in these markets and integrating technical personnel from the home country, this third-party logistics provider was up and running where needed by the customer on time. The key here was our ability to meld local business, language, and cross-cultural expertise with great home country product knowledge. The expense for expatriate assignments was limited and time was saved by quickly adapting to the local environment.
 
CASE B
A manufacturer of agriculture related products was not performing as well in a country outside of its home market. Sales outside of the home market went through a number of distributors in each country and results were uneven. Among the issues were channel management and product adaptation.
The solution required a change in country management by inserting an expatriate with experience, language, and cross-cultural sensitivity, with a mandate to both find and implement solutions, and to develop a successor from among local candidates.
 
CASE C
A manufacturer of both consumer and commercial products built large, profitable market share through years of developing local manufacturing in countries where regulatory restrictions kept out importers of competitive products. A fairly sudden reversal of these policies reduced import barriers in a previously protected region, which made a number of facilities redundant. In the face of price competition from importers, a new strategy was needed to integrate the region. However, management in each of the countries required facts on which to base decisions that would affect their operations.
Data related to changes in where to place manufacturing and warehousing, which affected transportation, lead-times, and customs duties was developed and analyzed and recommendations made to management and adopted over a three-month period.
 
CASE D
A company decided that entry into a new country market would require acquisition of a successful local operator in that country. The company recognized that selection of an acquisition target in a new country required skills not available within the company. They were aware that typical mistakes were made when management was drawn toward candidates who spoke the home country language very well and were most like the acquiring company. All too often that does not result in success.
GBS has demonstrated the importance of finding the best acquisition candidate and understanding what it is that has made that candidate successful. The selection process is important since the acquiring company needs to understand what aspects of the candidate’s business will benefit through the change an acquisition would bring, and what changes will lead to failure to perform as expected.
Negotiating the acquisition and integration after acquisition require more than attorneys and accountants when different languages and cultures are involved. In this case, the company had language speakers in the home country, however, they had no recent living or work history in the country. The company correctly relied on our skills during the selection and negotiation phases. After the close, however, integration was placed in the hands of the company’s home country veterans and product experts. The integration was a failure and within four years the company withdrew from the market and no longer serves some of the home-country customers they had followed to that country.