Our advice was taken on board, though. The automotive activities,
the best performing division, was put up for sale first. The
enthusiasm with which both Philips managers explained the
products produced by this division demonstrated their technical
background. `These products are impellors, a small fuel pump
component. With today's powerful engines, these pumps are
required to deliver fuel at a rate of up to 100 litres a minute. The
dimensions of such an impellor are a lesson in precision itself, with
margins of error expressed in microns. Nearly 70% of all the major
players sourced this particular plastic component from Philips.'
Holland Corporate Finance possesses the kind of
resources we simply couldn't muster and they also
have a network which is complementary to ours
Merry Christmas
Abuyerwasfinallyattracted:Helvoet,aproducerofrubberand
plastic modules and themselves a supplier to the automotive
industry. De Bruin describes this sale as a fairly normal process
with quite a tricky end phase. Just prior to Christmas 2004,
Philips walked away from the negotiation table, only to reach a
fresh agreement just weeks later. `As long as you stay within
ethical boundaries, almost anything goes in negotiating',
explains Van Alphen. `I later read an interview with the Helvoet
CFO,whereheidentifiedthatChristmasasbeingaparticularly
tough one. I was secretly pleased to discover that we were not
the only ones under a cloud.' In the course of these negotiations,
Philips appreciated the value of having an external consultant.
De Bruin explains: `Holland Corporate Finance possesses the
kind of resources we simply couldn't muster and they also have
a network which is complementary to ours. Above all though,
they formed a dependable sounding board upon which we were
abletohoneournegotiationgameintoafineart.'
Hands-on approach
Then of course there were still the sales of the other divisions.
`A dramatic experience', sketches Van Alphen. `Results which
continuously disappoint, deals which fall apart at the very last
moment due to some hidden internal political agenda on the
buyer's side all of it an uphill struggle.' Despite this, the tooling
division of HTP was sold off to Varova in July 2006 and the sale
of the last optics division Van Alphen here talks about `giving
away in advance' is a virtual certainty. `Throughout this time,
Holland Corporate Finance has pulled out all the stops on this
project and even now they're still very active with their hands-on
approach. That's an attitude you don't come across with many
M&A consultants.' De Bruins adds: `With the larger companies
there exists much more internal pressure to close the deal. Here
there was no sign of this kind of anxiety with Holland Corporate
Finance. With them, it appears to be much more a matter of
principle: we started out on this, and we have every intention of
carryingonuntilwecrossthefinishingline.'
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
70
71