When disaster strikes a
company, the financial implications can be drastic and speed in acquiring the
right resource to steady the ship is vital. In the case of a divestment, the management
implications are not the same as with a turnaround, however some of the change
management techniques needed for a turnaround are useful in divestments and
when a public body is privatised.
Turnarounds identifies the downward spiral that foretells the demise of
an organisation in management terms, then how this can be recovered by an
interim manager. The article concludes with the financial strategy that
supports the overall turnaround strategy.
Examples of my work in
distressed organisations include Fiddes Payne, Interconnect,
SMF Displays, Torex Retail and Ultralife Batteries.
My assignment with Abbey
concerned the liquidation or re-use of a number of subsidiaries owned by the
company that arose from the various strategic decisions that were taken during
the period following its initial public offering in 1988. Amongst these
companies were a Lloyds broker and its management company,a
discount house, insurance companies, private banks, assorted property companies
(which owned freeholds, shared ownerships and lease residuals), leasing
companies, special purpose vehicles and an estate agency. The work was the
legal due diligence of these business:
These are very typical
questions to ask in the event that a company is to be disposed of by
liquidation or whether the objects clause (now removed by the
Companies Act 2006) were to be changed.
This is a paper covering the
wider subject of divestment strategy.