- Nationwide – Integration planning for two building societies, covering actions required to integrate retail and contact centres and deliver related merger benefits, while insulating customers from impacts
- Netia/Tele2 –Assessed customer operations of alternative Telcos with radically different operating models, to develop single operating model to deliver acquisition benefits
- Private equity, acquisition of market researcher –Assessed separation plans from parent, and cost reduction plans based on technology and outsourcing
- TDF/Antenna Hungaria – Developed detailed plan to help TDF take control of AH, realign its strategy to an infrastructure focus and deliver cost savings. Led management team to agree integration objectives
- European Cable TV Altnet –Synergy planning across sales, marketing and networks in preparation for final binding offer for other competing Altnet delivering Pay TV, MVNO and fixed telecoms services.
- Innovation – Acquisition planning for a publicly quoted client to enable it to acquire, under Class 1 procedures, a loss making business and plan delivery of synergies required to turn it around
- Key player in the music industry – Reviewed previous restructuring actions and a plan to reduce costs, analysing cost base, identifying major risks to base case plan and some upsides
- Mach–Synergy planning to support financing of acquisition and integration of a mobile billing intermediary business
- PE House/Towers Business – Assessed synergy to raise £250m of finance, covering integration of field operations, procurement, and investment programmes
- Towers Business –Post acquisition merger planning under onerous ‘Hold Separate’ conditions, helping to control a high level of business risk, putting in place a ‘ready to go’ integration programme
- PE House, owner of media service business –Advice and challenge on ‘low-balled’ synergies. Helped PE House obtain commitment from top management to higher and more reasonable synergy projections
- Datatec – Operational Due Diligence. Identified key issues on acquisition of distressed US network integrator for group building worldwide service delivery footprint
- Datatec – Analysed similarities and differences in two acquisitions with a high degree of overlap, but some unique elements. Proposed new structures and a carve out/integration roadmap
- Macquarie – Assessed vendor preparations for the separation of Airwave from O2, assessing issues, e.g. impact on contracts, and standalone costs, and developed separation roadmap for acquiring PE house
- Financial Trading Business – Advice on people, transaction and valuation issues created in carving out and moving a business within a complex corporate structure, including General Partnership, LLP and PLC entities
- Macquarie – Diligence for Arqiva refinance – Assessed execution risk on a massive contract with large failure penalties and assumptions underlying a £1b Capexplan
- Reducing risk by separation planning and projecting ongoing and one off separation costs
- Assessing telecommunication operators
- Mobile telephony networks
Airwave
Assessing issues and costs in seperation from O2
Providers of emergency services in the UK provide attractive, reliable revenue streams, from a relatively small number of customers. As a customer group, they have unique, specialised operational requirements, covering technical features (push to talk), service characteristics (e.g. ubiquity, emergency deployment, availability) and operational imperatives (e.g. around security). Airwave was set up to build an infrastructure to serve these customers and wean them off a mix of private mobile radio systems, thus freeing up spectrum for other applications. Its owner, Telefonica/O2 decided to sell Airwave through an auction. With its background, it had a good fit with the criteria of some of Macquarie Bank’s infrastructure funds, and potential synergies with some of its businesses that operated in Public Safety markets. Prior to an auction process, Macquarie was invited to make a bid for Airwave, and promised exclusivity if it could act quickly.
Macquarie needed support in assessing the issues in separating Airwave from O2, and the transitional arrangements required. David was responsible for assessing rapidly the separation issues across networks, network and operational support systems, HR, property etc. and the degree to which Airwave management had made budget and implementation preparations. David developed a high level separation plan to put in place replacements for transitional services, identify any missing functions and implement ‘quick win’ cost reductions.
David’s work confirmed that although both businesses operated cellular networks, they operated largely on a separate basis and the integration synergies that had been anticipated when O2 bought Airwave from BT had not been realised, minimising the kind of difficult separation issues that can arise from closely integrated telecommunication service provision businesses. The work identified no ‘red flag’ issues to delay progress in the transaction. The work plan developed for the new owners and Airwave management was pursued on completion.
