A core that survives the special situation
Real customers, real product, real operational capability. We ask what remains once the immediate difficulty is resolved — and whether that remainder is worth owning.
Our approach
How we evaluate a special situation
Every acquisition is measured against the same three tests, and sourced from the same set of situation types. This is the framework advisors and business owners can expect us to apply — consistently, and quickly.
Investment criteria
The Three Tests, in depth
A definable situation that created the opportunity
Distress, a forced sale, a broken carve-out, or a succession without a successor. The reason the business is priced below its potential has to be identifiable and explainable.
A transaction that can realistically be completed
Stakeholders, timelines, and structure all have to align. If a deal cannot realistically close within the window the situation demands, we do not pursue it.
Where we look
Situation types we act on
Distress
Operational or financial distress
A viable business under short-term pressure — covenant breach, a working-capital squeeze, or loss of a key customer — that needs a decisive, well-capitalised owner rather than a further round of advice.
Forced sale
Forced & time-pressured sales
Insolvency processes, administrator- or lender-led disposals, and other situations where the seller's timeline is fixed and speed of execution is the deciding factor in who completes.
Carve-out
Broken carve-outs
Divisions separated from a parent group without the standalone finance, systems, or management infrastructure to function on their own — needing to be rebuilt as an independent operating business.
Succession
Succession without a successor
Founder- or family-owned businesses facing retirement or exit with no internal successor — at risk of being sold on the buyer's terms rather than the business's merits.
Scope
Geography & sector focus
We acquire companies, business units, and industrial assets across the United Kingdom and the European Union, prioritising businesses with an industrial or operational core over purely financial or intangible-asset businesses.
We do not asset-strip, and we do not take debt positions or bill by the hour as a consultancy would. Every acquisition is an equity commitment to operate and hold the business for the long term.
Frequently asked
Questions from advisors & owners
Companies, business units, and industrial assets across the UK and EU that are in turnaround, distressed, carve-out, or succession situations, and retain a survivable operational core.
We take equity control. We are not a credit fund and do not take debt positions or act as a fee-based consultancy.
Yes. Every business we acquire remains an operating business, with its brand and workforce intact.
Timelines depend on the situation, but we only pursue transactions with a clear, executable path to completion within the timeframe the situation demands.
Think a situation meets these tests?
Submit the details directly — we review every deal against the same criteria.