Ulrich Ike joined CBA as M&A Advisor in January 2024. Educated at the University of Applied Sciences Ludwigshafen, Germany with final degree in Economics, he worked with PwC in Frankfurt and Hamburg for 6 years, for several banks in management position including CFO, and worked in France, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, and the UK before starting his own Consulting Business.

The Spanish hotel company ‘Room Mate Hotels’ bought their first UK property, the ‘Lime Tree Hotel’ in London, with 26 rooms, encreasing the group’s presence in five European countries to 23 hotels.

The Manua-based company UP Pharma, distributors of dietary supplements and nutraceuticals sold 100% of its shares to Italian pharma group Giuriati from Padua. Giuriati specialises in the development and marketing of dietary supplements, nutraceuticals and personal care products in the pharmacy channel.

IHG Hotels & Resorts is set to open its second hotel under the Vignette in early 2024, the ‘Marbella Resort Hotel’ (Vignette Collection), on the World Islands Dubai. The hotel has 150 rooms with stunning Arabic Gulf views.

Michał Zwyrtek is a tax advisor, customs agent, co-founder and managing partner of a law firm.

He has been advising and supporting Polish and international business for over 20 years. He works mainly with boards of directors, middle and senior management, C-level executives, entrepreneurs and representatives of local governments and with owners of Polish private and family businesses.

He helps people and organisations to achieve their planned goals by providing competence in business, tax, legal and financial areas. His scientific and business interests include lean and kaizen philosophies and Industry 4.0.

Since September 2022, he has been the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at APA Group - one of the largest Polish companies in the intelligent industrial and building automation industry. He's also Interim CFO in various companies in southern Poland.

Previously, he was a partner and vice-president of the board of directors at the Polish audit and advisory firm UHY ECA, where he was responsible for outsourcing and tax consultancy.

Prior to that, he worked at PwC for nearly 14 years as a director in the legal and tax department. He co-managed the Katowice office and was a leader in legal and tax advisory for the automotive industry in Poland. He was also a member of the advisory team for private and family businesses at PwC.

He is the author of more than 300 articles and online publications. In particular, he cooperates with "Rzeczpospolita", "Dziennik Gazeta Prawna", "Monitor Podatkowy", "Przegląd Podatkowy" and "Nowy Przemysl". He is also a columnist for the Silesian Business portal.

He has been invited as an expert to television and radio programmes. He is also a speaker, panellist and moderator at numerous conferences, including the "European Economic Congress" "European Congress of Small and Medium-sized Companies", "International Economic Forms", "Executive Innovation Forum", as well as "Industry Next".

Since September 2021, he has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Tychy Regional Chamber of Industry and Commerce. He is also a co-founder and chairman of the presidium of the Silesian Business Lodge - a Think Tank created by a group of experienced managers and entrepreneurs from the Silesian Voivodeship.

He cooperates with other scientific and economic organisations, including the Nanonet Foundation, the Regional Chamber of Commerce in Katowice and the Polish Economic Society. He is a member of the tax committee at the Polish-German Chamber of Industry and Commerce.

Michał Zwyrtek holds a master's degree in economics. He graduated from the Department of Strategic and Regional Research at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Economics in Katowice. He also completed the international Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) programme conducted by the Gdansk Foundation for Management Education, the University of Silesia and RSM Erasmus University in Rotterdam. He is a graduate of the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) and Master of Laws (LL.M.) Magister Legum - "Business Law" studies organised by Collegium Humanum - Warsaw School of Management in partnership with Apsley Business School in London.

Additionally, he has completed over 30 certified business training courses (AgilePM®, PRINCE2®, MoR®, Change Management™, Management 3.0, Design Thinking, PwC BXT, CFA Institute Investment Foundations®, Introduction to ESG).

Michał Zwyrtek joined CBA in Poland as M&A Advisor, Tax Advisor, Customs Broker, and Business Consultant in July 2023.

Dr Jack Jacoby recently ended a Non-Executive Directorship role, but still retain other directorships. He is seeking to fill the gap that has been created and maybe you are aware of NED opportunities. Jack’s value proposition: He is different. He is a fresh and lateral thinker. He increases value, lower risk, and enhance certainty. He is not afraid of being different. He makes decision making easier for a better outcome. He’s very good with people…and he is very good at what he does.

Some key past highlights:

• CEO of 500-person organisation
• Qualifications: Doctor of Business Administration, MBA
• Director in Ernst & Young’s Consulting firm
• plus KPMG, Touche Ross and IBIS Strategy
• Adjunct Professor RMIT School of Business & Law
• He has taught strategy, management, market research, consumer behaviour, and other related subjects. Research supervisor at MBA level and examiner of doctoral research in business.
• Strong reputation in strategy, shareholder value, knowledge management, change management, mentoring and as a director.
• Hundreds of clients including listed, private, for-profit, NFP, NGO, government, large, small, start-up and scale up clients.
• He has worked in almost all industries.
• Author of 7 books
• He is prepared to sit on any board anywhere in the world (within reason).
• The board must operate legally, ethically, and morally.

Dr Jack Jacoby can be contacted at exchange@cba.associates

Kamal Allaoui is a seasoned executive with over 16 years of solid North American business experience (USA & Canada) and 7 years of experience in North Africa. Outstanding business credentials in multi-disciplinary areas with top global companies. Recognised for driving performance and achieving superior results. Proven ability to successfully analyse critical business requirements, identify deficiencies, potential opportunities and lead teams for execution.

Kamal worked in the US, Canada and in Morocco. He has a Moroccan and Canadian citizenship and joined CBA as M&A Adviser.

Congratulations. You've decided to buy a company. The only thing that stands between you and the purchase is lack of capital. Fortunately, many sources of capital exist that can help you accomplish an acquisition-some simple and straightforward, others more esoteric.

The Big 6

Wading through financing choices-let alone picking one-can be taxing. Here are the basics about six options you can discuss with an acquisition professional.

1. Buyer's liquid cash. On the simple and straightforward side of the ledger sits your bank account. When considering the use of your cash, note how much risk you're willing to assume, because risk grows in proportion to cash expended. That said, why should you put up any money at all? Well, when approaching third parties for money, keep in mind that they want to share the risk-or, as it's sometimes known, they want the purchaser to have "skin in the game." Investors rightly believe that it's in everyone's interest for all investors to be somewhat "at risk."
2. Buyer's company stock. If you're a publicly held company, or a privately held company with plans to go public soon, you may want to consider the use of your company's stock (either preferred or common). But keep in mind that the seller's motivation is usually in creating a "liquidity event." As a result, cash will be king, so using stock means the stock will be discounted against the cash price, increasing the number of shares you'll need to use and, ultimately, raising the purchase price.
3. Acquisition target's assets. Interestingly, many potential acquirers look at the target's assets. Frequently, banks and other secured lenders make loans against such assets, including accounts receivable, inventory (raw material and finished goods only), furniture, fixtures, machinery, and equipment. The dollar amount banks will lend against these asset categories varies-usually starting at 80% to 85% of the most liquid assets (receivables less than 90 days old). Next come raw materials and finished goods. When banks or other lending institutions consider inventory, they normally will advance no more than 50% to 55% of value - and then only when the inventory in question is deemed liquid. Last, most banks will lend approximately 80% of "liquidation value" (the price a buyer would pay for an asset at auction) against the borrower's fixed assets.
4. Cash flow loan. Some lenders will make a cash flow (also known as an over-advance) loan, when the borrower, target or the combined business's cash flow supports a loan of this type. Usually, these additional advances are made only on a short-term basis. And, if the transaction involves only privately held companies, it's typical for banks to secure personal guarantees from the borrowing entity's principal stockholders.
5. Real estate. Another potential cash source is the company's real estate if you intend to acquire it along with the business. You can mortgage or refinance buildings and land if they're already subject to a mortgage or sell and lease them back.
6. Mezzanine/subordinated lenders. These lenders comprise many private equity groups. The groups' risk level falls between banks and other secured lending institutions discussed previously, and pure equity investors. Mezzanine/subordinated lenders' compensation is between that of equity providers and secured debt holders.

Mezzanine lenders normally get a cumulative cash yield on their investment of 9% to 15% over the investment's life. In addition, they also get a "kicker" that typically appears in the form of warrants, which will increase these investors' yield to 18% to 25%. The number of offered warrants governs the expected yield on these nominally priced warrants.

Narrowing it down

There's no such thing as a free lunch or financing option. Every cash source costs money, usually in the form of interest owed to the lender. So, when considering whether to buy a business and how to pay for it, remember that part of the ongoing cost of operating the acquired company will be paying for other people's money you used to purchase it.

By Tim Bellon, CBI Owner and Managing Broker

VR Mergers & Acquisitions in N. Tampa, FL USA

VR is CBA's Alliance Partner in North America

David Pang Chuan NG – educated at Curtin University, Australia with Bachelor in Business. He has been a successful business
developer with 34 years of International Experience. Clients endorsed him as a trusted business advisor.

David Ng is an IM&A charter holder after completing International Mergers & Acquisitions Expert (IM&A) with Institute for Mergers Acquisitions & Alliance. https://imaa-institute.org/certificates/david-ng-pang-chuan-2549/.

Being a Singapore Citizen and Permanent Residence in Thailand he brings valuable insight into Asia, in particular Singapore and Thailand and is also a qualified realtor in Singapore.

Countries of Work Experience: Singapore, Thailand, France

David Ng joined CBA as M&A Advisor in Singapore and Thailand in October 2022.