SITUATION
In 2002 Phil Binkow founded the Financial Operations Networks (“FON”). His vision has been to create the preeminent online publishing resource for back office support operations. His first product, The Accounts Payable Network, has become the “go to” online SaaS resource for financial professionals seeking information, benchmarking, best practices, tools, templates, and advice on the Accounts Payable processes.
In 2013 Binkow and his team were approached by a company that had recently purchased one of FON’s competitors and wanted to make a strategic acquisition that would make it a major player in FON’s market. A letter of intent with an offer price was provided to Binkow and his team for consideration in mid-October and after amicable negotiations FON accepted the offer.
SOLUTION: Trillium M&A Support Services
Trillium Financial’s Mike Iverson had been providing part-time CFO leadership services to FON since its inception. For the due diligence process that FON was to embark upon, Mike served the central role in facilitating and coordinating all financial due diligence activities and processes, including the establishment of a sophisticated online data room to house the key financial and non-financial documents. The parties wanted to accelerate the due diligence process to meet an aggressive goal of closing the transaction before the end of the year which meant completing due diligence and the purchase agreement documentation in less than 60 days.
<p=>RESULTS
Trillium Financial was able to efficiently and effectively pull together the required financial and non-financial information to meet the accelerated due diligence processes and deadlines. This was possible due to Mike’s comprehensive and methodical approach to measuring and reporting financial results and having well-organized structures around FON’s financial reporting systems. The highly organized financial, administrative, and human resources information were key in getting due diligence completed by early December, well in time to close before the end of the year.
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“Mike has been an integral part of our team since we founded FON. “His solid understanding of our business and its needs for financial reporting, combined with his highly ordered and disciplined approach to financial reporting and accounting structure were instrumental in our growth and the positioning of FON for a successful exit. He is such a pleasure to work with, and remains a key player on our team as we move forward.”
Philip Binkow, Co-Founder / CEO