Private Equity Case Study:
Interim CFO Support

FINANCIAL TRANSITION FOR A RETAIL CARVEOUT

CHALLENGE:
Lacked CFO After Spin-Off/PE Buyout

When a national consumer products entity was spun off from a conglomerate in conjunction with a leveraged buy out by a private equity firm and the management team, its executive team did not include a CFO.

The President, CEO and private equity firm approached CMF to provide an interim CFO experienced in the following:
• Private equity buyouts and purchase accounting
• International accounting and foreign currency
• Operational accounting/financial reporting
• Consumer product manufacturing and retailing
• General management

SOLUTION:
Quick, On-the-Ground Financial Leadership

CMF’s interim CFO support included the following projects and deliverables within 90 days:
• Managing overall global finance operation and transitioning from seller
• Establishing the opening balance sheet position and regular reporting format
• Documenting existing business processes and identifying areas for improvement
• Creating a “roadmap” for the new CFO to quickly get up to speed and impact operations and cash flow, and transitioning knowledge to him

OUTCOME:
Smooth Transition to Permanent CFO

In 90 days, our interim CFO:
• Developed stand-alone functions for 90% of finance group activities
• Completed opening balance sheet and post-closing adjustments with the seller
• Managed Big Four auditors review and established comfort with purchase accounting
• Established a weekly/monthly reporting format
• Compiled comprehensive flowchart and narrative systems descriptions
• Recommended changes to existing business processes/staffing with estimated cost savings >$1.0 million
• Established line of credit
• Successfully transitioned to the permanent CFO, trimming orientation by eight weeks