Case Studies

Turnaround Advisory for Health Food Distributor

J.S. Held Acquires Clark Seif Clark, Strengthening West Coast Capabilities for Environmental Claims, Disputes, and Catastrophe Response

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The Situation

  • The company distributes health and natural foods to independent health food retailers as well as local cooperative buying groups.
  • Sales volume had been declining, and the company had numerous operational issues, including delinquent orders and stock errors.
  • As a result, the company, saddled with $4 million in debt, was losing money and running out of cash.

How We Advised

  • The turnaround plan was developed to cut costs, increase prices, and address operational issues, including on-time deliveries, pick-and-pack accuracy, truck routing, and facility layout.
  • Discovered employee after-hours product thefts and created theft controls.
  • Worked with the Co-Op Board in supporting corrective actions where some of the board members had a low interest level in the company’s financial performance.
  • Near-term changes brought the company back to profitability and started to restore liquidity to adequate levels.
  • Management decided to address most of the operational issues independently, without our assistance, contrary to our recommendations. As is often the case with our assignments, management meant well but was ineffective in addressing most of its long-standing operational issues.
  • Eventually, the company fell back into more serious financial distress, and management attempted to work its way out of it on its own this time. Management failed and the company was liquidated, but the secured lender was paid in full.

Key Contact

Dan F. Dooley, CTP 
Senior Managing Director 
Strategic Advisory Practice 
+1 603 660 8952 
[email protected] 

Related Practice Areas

> Turnaround and Restructuring Services 
Navigating the many challenges confronting a company in transition requires an operationally focused approach that looks beyond the balance sheet to minimize further degradation and build a path to sustainable growth. Drawing upon decades of experience in the turnaround space, we help companies in transition identify practical strategies to improve profitability and liquidity for immediate relief, while concurrently developing and executing a comprehensive turnaround plan for long-term, sustainable value creation. 

 

> Solutions for Distressed Situations 
We deliver integrated solutions for distressed and insolvent businesses that maximize recovery, mitigate risk, and restore enterprise value. Our experts are retained to help distressed organizations stabilize operations, protect stakeholder interests, and execute turnaround strategies. We take an operationally-focused approach that looks beyond the balance sheet to minimize further degradation and build a path to sustainable growth. 

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