National Funding Association Inc.

Winter Conference

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High Rock Partners - Value Creation and 2012 Strategy

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Value Creation & Strategy

a newsletter from High Rock Partners, Inc.
October 2011

Introduction
Does your company really create value for its owners? Did you know that most emerging growth and middle market businesses don’t and that there is a growing value gap? Here’s a 2 min thought provoking animated piece we created to start a discussion. It’s called Value Creation.

So, speaking of value creation, many companies are beginning their planning process for 2012 in the months ahead …what are your strategic initiatives and how will you grow in the coming year to create value? The High Rock team has a proven process to assist management and shareholders in making strategic plans and decisions in growing, acquiring and selling businesses.

Update

M&A Activity Continues to Increase as Strategics Seek Growth

Middle market M&A activity continues to increase as strategic buyers seek growth and expansion. As shown below, companies with revenues between $5M and $150M are the most active in terms of being targets in deals. Valuations for the high performing businesses have reached levels nearing those of 2008.

Articles
Exits and Acquisitions

GE Capital published one of our articles on the basics of successful exits and acquistions. Here’s a link to the GE Capital site.

Tools & Resources
Supercharge Your Process for Planning & Making Strategic Decisions

We hear management and owners asking “should I buy a competitor or is it time to sell?” …”what direction should we go”? We will work with your team to systematically evaluate the alternatives providing unbiased, objective analysis and feedback coupled with proven techniques to support your team in making key strategic decisions and plans. Here’s a short list of assessments that we provide …and that are valuable inputs into your planning and budgeting processes. Two examples are -

Growth Strategy Evaluation™
An unbiased, third party assessment of your existing strategy. Provides an excellent devil’s-advocate perspective for validation and feedback of the current strategic plan.

Exit Strategy Evaluation™
A traditional valuation tells you where the company is … the Exit Strategy Evaluation™ helps guide you to where you want the company to be. The process explores exit and liquidity alternatives (including timing), determines the likely range of values of the company in a transaction and provides recommended areas for improvement or preparation to increase value and the likelihood of closing a deal.

We excel at leading the planning process. With your team, we establish and drive a value-added process for your company, not just as facilitators …but as analyst and most importantly as former CEOs having been through it ourselves many times.

Contact Info

Kenneth H. Marks, CM&AA
Founder & Managing Partner
(919) 256-8152
khmarks@highrockpartners.com
www.HighRockPartners.com

Click here for the HRP team

Recent Successes

has been acquired by

High Rock Partners provided strategic and financial advisory services to FeatureTel LLC in connection with the sale mentioned above

has been acquired by

High Rock Partners provided strategic and financial advisory services to Alpheon Corporation in connection with the sale mentioned above

Thought Leadership

Kenneth H Marks et al will be releasing Middle Market M&A January 2012. Click here or on the book image to learn more.

The principals of High Rock along with other co-authors recently released the 2nd edition of the Handbook of Financing Growth. Click here or on the book image to learn more.

Our Blog

Dividends Newsletter Volume 5, Number 2

admin — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 11:52:51 +0000

DIVIDENDS

BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR CLIENTS AND FRIENDS OF

SHUMAKER, LOOP & KENDRICK, LLP

Volume 5, Number 2

“That’s Not Me”: Trademark Identity Theft

By: Jack Santaniello

So you’ve spent years creating, designing and using the perfect words, designs and symbols to represent your business. While Googling, Facebooking, E-Baying, or doing something else in front of a computer or television screen, you happen to notice your business logo on the screen. As you look closer, you realize it’s not your mark, but something that looks like it. What do you do?

Businesses are identified by their brand - the words and symbols linking certain products or services back to a business. Many business owners gloss over the true value of their marks and, therefore, do not pay much attention to protecting them. According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), intellectual property theft causes losses to businesses estimated to be in excess of $250 billion dollars per year and 750,000 lost jobs annually. Trademark protection prevents others from profiting off of the brands and goodwill businesses have developed for themselves.

>Read More

Jack Santaniello is a partner in the corporate, franchising and intellectual property law practice groups in the firm’s
Charlotte Office.

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Chapter 11: A Primer on Preference Claims

By: David H. Conaway

This article was published in the Spring 2011
edition of Eurofenix.

A consequence of the global recession is the increase of Chapter 11 filings by United States based companies. For non-U.S. vendors of such Chapter 11 debtors, it is important to understand the key provisions of Chapter 11 to mitigate risks and potential losses. A prominent feature of Chapter 11 cases in the United States is the debtor’s ability to recover “preference payments,” essentially payments made to vendors 90 days prior to the Chapter 11 filing. For vendors, this is a particularly unpopular aspect of Chapter 11 cases, since the vendor has likely already sustained a write-off of accounts receivable existing at the time of the Chapter 11 filing. After imposing that loss on a vendor, the debtor has two years after the Chapter 11 filing to sue the vendor to recover payments that were made by the debtor in the 90 day period prior to the Chapter 11 filing. As a result of this, vendors must evaluate potential preference exposure to understand the full potential loss arising from a U.S. customer’s Chapter 11 filing.

Under Section 547 of the Bankruptcy Code, a preference is a transfer of property of a bankruptcy debtor that (1) was to or for the benefit of a vendor; (2) was on account of an antecedent debt; (3) was made while the debtor was insolvent; (4) was made within 90 days of the filing of the bankruptcy petition; and (5) allowed the vendor to receive more than the vendor would receive in a hypothetical liquidation of the debtor.

>Read More

David Conaway is a partner in the bankruptcy, workouts, commercial
transactions, and international transactions law practice
groups in the firm’s Charlotte Office.

________ __

Joseph (Jack) Santaniello
First Citizens Bank Building
128 S. Tryon Street, Suite 1800
Charlotte, NC 28202-5013
Phone 704-375-0057 Ext. 2141
Fax 704-332-1197
jsantaniello@slk-law.com
www.slk-law.com
Jack’s Biography

All Shumaker Practice Areas

“Yes Virginia, You Must Prove The Note…
and the Mortgage Too”:
Proof Problems in the Foreclosure Setting

By: Moses Luski

As the tidal wave of foreclosure actions surges through the courts of the land, it seems like every couple of months we are met with panicked headlines in the Press citing a crucial appellate case that threatens with a single judicial pronouncement to stop the surge of foreclosures dead in its tracks. One such case is U.S. Bank Nat’l Ass’n v. Antonio Ibanez, 458 Mass. 637, 941 N.E.2d 40 (Mass. 2011) (”Ibanez”) decided by the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. Another case which garnered less publicity but dealt with similar issues is In Re Adams, N.C. App. __, 693 S.E.2d 705 (N.C. Ct. App. 2010) decided by the North Carolina Court of Appeals (”Adams”).

The Ibanez case actually is two cases which were consolidated for review by the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts. In each case a lender had foreclosed on real property.

>Read More

Moses Luski is a partner in the commercial real estate law practice group in the firm’s Charlotte office.

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ARCHIVE ARTICLES

L3Cs: New Kid on the Company Block
(Winter 2011)
Business-owned life insurance:Handle with care (Winter 2011)
What is Franchising? (Winter 2011)
Is It Now Safe To Tweet? (Summer 2010)
Another Red Flag For Red Flags Rule
(Summer 2010)
Know Thyself and It Will Work Out: Workout of Commerical Real Estate Loans in Today’s Economy (Summer 2010)
Do You Have Good Business Judgment?
(Winter 2010)
Proceed With Caution When Making Health-Related Inquiries (Winter 2010)
Is That “Independent Contractor” Really An “Employee”? (Fall 2009)
Protecting Your Assets Against Fraud And Id Theft (Fall 2009)
Are You Paying the New Minimum? (NC Minimum Wage Act) (Fall 2009)

Are You Ignoring Red Flags? (Winter 2009)

Need to Know Bankruptcy Concepts
(Winter 2009)

· Want To Keep Your Car? (Spring 2008)

Keeping ICE Away: The New I-9 Form
(Spring 2008)

· Are You a Federal Fugitive? (Fall 2007)

Sale or No Sale? (Fall 2007)

· Have Your IP Dollars Been Well Spent?
(Spring 2007)

Letters of Intent (Spring 2007)

· Red Flags Get A Temporary Green Light
(Winter 2010)

Are You A Target (Winter 2010)

Is Your Company Compliant? Antitrust Enforcement to Increase Significantly
(Summer 2010)

JACK’S PRACTICE AREAS

The contents of this Dividends newsletter are offered as general information only and are not intended for use as legal advice on specific matters. IRS Circular 230 Notice: We are required to advise you no person or entity may use any tax advice in this communication or any attachment to (i) avoid any penalty under federal tax law or (ii) promote, market or recommend any purchase, investment or other action.