all of our services

Crest Capital offers a wide variety of specialised corporate finance and turnaround services to our target market with the aim of ensuring that our clients maximise value, be it through the sale of their business for an optimal price, investing in the right company at the right price or through enhancing or preserving the value of their business.

We are not fee-centric but rather seek to develop long lasting and deep relationships with our clients. Our philosophy is based on the value of repeat business from a satisfied client base. A significant portion of our fees earned is from repeat business which is testimony to our cost/reward approach to all transactions.

Sale of business advisory

Where do you begin in the process of selling your business? A business in which you have probably been through thick and thin. We pride ourselves in taking the anxiety and risk out of your business disposal. We have advised sellers in the disposal of small and large businesses alike, across a diverse range of industries and in so doing, have ensured that they have achieved an exit which fully rewarded them for their investment in the business.

We will guide you through the entire sale process which will typically include grooming the business for sale, valuing the business prior to exit to establish an optimal selling price, introducing you to suitable buyers, structuring the transaction to ensure tax efficiency, negotiating the terms of the transaction and reviewing all legal agreements.

Business acquisition advisory

Acquiring a business is extremely risky on all fronts from choosing a dud to over-paying. Navigating the process calls for a diverse skill-set, including business valuations, transaction structuring, financial engineering, capital raising, due diligence, risk analysis, negotiations and much more. With each missing skill so the risk of failure increases. By engaging Crest you will have immediate access to professionals who are considered experts in each of the disciplines which form part of the acquisition process.

The Crest team has the experience and expertise to guide you through the entire acquisition process from the development of your acquisition strategy to post-acquisition integration.

Capital raising

Raising capital for an established business is often a laborious, hit-or-miss affair. Raising capital for a relatively new business or project is even more difficult. The crux is to understand how a funder’s mind works and their internal approval processes. With many years’ experience earned in the financial markets our directors have the network and knowledge in helping you raise capital, locally and internationally.

We are well connected in the global and local markets having raised capital for diverse projects from large corporates to community projects using traditional and creative funding structures.

Business valuation

The ability to accurately value any business comes with experience. We pride ourselves on performing valuations which appropriately take into account the attributes of the business being valued, rather than simply applying rule of thumb approaches, which tend to overvalue weak businesses and undervalue strong ones.

Our directors have collectively performed hundreds of valuations on companies ranging from privately-held micro businesses to top 100 JSE listed companies across virtually every industrial sector

Due diligence

This is a critical step in any business acquisition and often the dividing line between a successful and failed transaction. Collectively our team has performed hundreds of due diligence reviews on a wide variety of businesses ranging from single location, privately owned businesses to multi-national corporates listed on international stock exchanges.

We follow a risk-based approach which means each due diligence is tailored to focus on the key issues and critical success factors of the target business. We are able to scope each assignment based on your specific needs ranging from a limited scope, high-level review focussing on specific areas to a detailed, full scope due diligence which includes an operational and tax review.

Strategy formulation and implementation

Strategy plans should not be glossy documents gathering dust in the CEO’s office. Unfortunately this is often the case. We do not adopt an academic or consultancy approach – we will keep the process simple, relevant and practical. We have facilitated and developed strategic plans for businesses, large and small, NGO’s and public benefit organisations. We will help you ensure that your strategic plans are both implementable and implemented. We do not leave you in the lurch once a plan is developed but will work tirelessly alongside your team to ensure that the strategy remains relevant and is fully implemented.

Employee share ownership plan (“ESOP”) establishment

ESOPs present an extremely effective mechanism to incentivise employees to think and act like owners of the business and further provide an exit strategy for the existing owners who can, over time, sell their shares to employees of the business.

Crest’s unique approach to the design and implementation of share ownership schemes ensures that all stakeholders will be consulted throughout the process to ensure that the scheme is beneficial to all parties, which will lead to the creation of long-term value in the business.

Business re-engineering

There is a plethora of risks facing a business every day ranging from minor challenges to those that could threaten the very existence of the business. At Crest we have deep experience in helping businesses of all shapes and sizes improve profitability. We have a history of assisting organisations to identify the risks to business sustainability and profitability which places us in a unique position to assist you in identifying exactly where your business needs to change and more importantly, how to achieve these changes.

Business Recovery and Rescue

There are many reasons why a business can fail not least of all when economic times are tough or markets have turned against you. The critical issue is for us to assist you to identify the root cause of the problem and deal with it as quickly as possible. Whilst Rescues are often drawn out, we attempt to get to a sensible plan drafted, approved and implemented as quick as possible thereby preserving the limited cash and assets for payment to creditors, staff and, hopefully, the shareholders. As we have corporate finance experience we pride ourselves in our financial engineering skills to arrive at the best structure for the business.