INTRODUCTION
This site describes business turnaround, corporate restructuring and other wealth recovery services of Alex Wolf & Associates LLC, often performed or directed by Alex Wolf himself. This site is aimed primarily at owners, CEOs and board members of companies that are in serious difficulty. It will also interest investors contemplating the purchase of a distressed company and lenders who hold non-performing and under-secured loans. It cannot be emphasized enough that restoring credibility and actual profit turnaround are key to achieving success in most wealth restoration cases, and practically in all difficult ones. For instance, creditors are more likely to agree to debt restructuring if they believe the debtor company will make profits necessary to repay the debts (wholly or in an acceptable part) in installments and / or that it will receive an investment with which it will pay its creditors. Even before overall debt restructuring is undertaken, vendors, lenders and taxation authorities will grant forbearances (initially often piecemeal) if they really buy into what the debtor tells them. To establish such trust written disclosure is often required. However, most operating business executives instinctively shy away from disclosing their company’s weaknesses. What they do not realize is that frank bad news is a very effective tool for dealing with creditors, because at the foundation of a good restructuring plan is a meeting of minds of the debtor and its creditors concerning their alternatives....................... Of course, these alternatives need to be presented properly and important nuances must be observed in the manner in which confidential information is disclosed and in laying out said alternatives, e.g. concerning the expected realization by creditors in the event of informal restructuring as compared with Chapter 11 or other legal reorganization mechanisms. In these matters restructuring expertise is essential. Debt restructuring may be achieved informally (or for that matter under Chapter 11) by a skillful negotiation of one or more proposals that would – for instance – reduce the principal owed or payments previously fixed, and / or delay said payments, and / or modify or reduce creditors’ security. But holding off disappointed and irate creditors and getting them to restructure the debts is only part of the solution. All major ills that have gotten a company or a group of companies into trouble must still be cured – if the future is to be profitable. Usually, several such ills are present simultaneously. Some of these problems mask others, and therefore operating management is often aware of only some of these ills. Yet all key problems must be diagnosed quickly, and practical and credible cures must be applied, or at least devised, early on in a turnaround. Moreover, some turnarounds and restructurings require an injection of cash by third-parties, and the rules that govern the obtaining of debt and equity investment are different for healthy and for distressed enterprises. In fact, the sources of their financing are often different. Today in the USA there is a whole industry dedicated to the financing of distressed and under-performing businesses. In recent years more money in this industry has been “chasing deals” than there are eligible debtors asking for funds. At the same time, most troubled companies that require funding fail to obtain it. This dichotomy is explained by the fact that for the most part, distressed companies do not know where to seek funds, investor firms do not know where to find the smaller distressed companies, and most of the latter fail to make the preparations that are required to make them attractive to investors. Notably, the work involved in making a distressed company attractive to investors, in most cases, requires both restructuring and turnaround expertise, including specialized research, planning and negotiation skills. On reflection, it is not surprising that most companies who get into serious trouble and need a turnaround know very little about the above matters and about the nature of turnarounds in general. Sometimes, the problem is compounded by the egos of formerly successful business operators that further prevent them from taking the necessary steps, such as hiring a turnaround specialist. Furthermore, they do not realize how cooperative the business world can be towards a business operator, whose distressed company retains an enterprise value despite its bad financial statements. Of course, the pre-condition for obtaining such a Second Chance is the restoration of credibility, as already mentioned. To assist interested parties, this site is also a comprehensive management presentation on the subject of turnarounds and corporate restructuring – including some projects performed or directed by Alex Wolf himself. It should be noted that many cases described herein required a multi-disciplinary approach in order to solve concurrent and diverse business problems, including the following: Case #3 : Discovered and eliminated ongoing theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars annually in a large machining house – through "walk around management", material control and financial analysis; also changed job descriptions to prevent recurrence of similar problems. Case #5 : Crisis management and cost reduction in a troubled industrial company: negotiated loan extensions from a difficult banker; rapidly increased productivity in a large machine shop (technical-management); obtained concessions from vendors and taxation authorities; and refinanced a loan of several million dollars. Case #7 : Restored profitability and eliminated a financing problem for a distressed manufacturer of audio amplifiers – through strategic repositioning; also obtained concessions from taxation authorities. Case #8 : Crisis management and revenue increase in a conglomerate of small companies: restructured under-secured bank debt, obtained forbearances from state taxation authorities; generated margin improvements and subordination (pending) of IRS tax liens due to withholding tax owed – the foregoing in a contracting and supply firm. Obtained forbearances from real estate lenders in an investment firm. Created marketing and financial resources through joint-ventures. Improved sales and profit margin in a conference center company (Case on-going). Alex Wolf & Associates guarantees the utmost in professionalism in all projects. Moreover, in some cases, generally on a hands-on basis, i.e. with our top people as your interim CEO or your CRO, we can accept overall responsibility for results. In addition, in certain cases, we agree to partly or wholly success-based fees - for further information see Section 2. A table of contents is provided to help you navigate this site, but if you want a tutorial in corporate renewal, then go through our entire presentation in the reader / printer-friendly PDF format. Next Section : 2. Our Offer in a Nutshell and About Us
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