BUSINESS

SURVIVALISTS

Your survival may depend on what you do next and how quickly you act.

Our team has been helping executives,shareholder,investors, and board members save their companies for over three decades

Move fast,be bold.

BUSINESS SURVIVAL EXPERTS

WHY LAWBANX ?

ABOUT YOUR
FUTURE

A BETTER TOMORROW .

We are 100% dedicated to helping you solve your biggest challenges as a business owner. Restoring liquidity, avoiding insolvency and quickly meeting any of the regulatory or lending tests that are in front of you. We are not here to replace leadership, compete with your professional relationships, reposition operations or conflict with any of the great things happening in your company. In fact, most of our engagements are referrals from the professional community. Simply put; we specialize in the restructuring of your debt and obligations to achieve levels which allow your business to survive and thrive moving forward.

KEEP MOVING
FORWARD

SIMPLE BUT POWERFUL.

Restructuring your obligations is a critical aspect to attracting and securing additional or new debt or equity investment. Approaching the capital markets with a dramatically improved balance sheet leads to far better terms, faster closing and lower costs. Facing the capital markets before your obligations are restructured places you at a tremendous disadvantage and potential failure in attracting any financial support. There is always the “Distressed” debt and equity markets available, however, any last resort scenarios are never ideal.

SELLING ?

A BETTER OUTCOME .

For the shareholder(s), Entrepreneur, Private Equity or Conglomerate, selling an enterprise or business unit with a restructured balance sheet will always lead to the best result. You can look forward to higher valuations, tighter reps and warranties, quicker due diligence and a faster closing. Management can focus on the sale process and not survival issues which will help the process.

RESTRUCTURE CAPITAL

DEEP KNOWLEDGE AND RELATIONSHIPS

Restructuring your business may require capital. Lawbanx principals have organized over $800 million through our financing partners and our own capital over the last two decades supporting well planned restructure programs. Developing the right capital structure can be key. Lawbanx will consider direct capital support depending on the situation.

OUR STRENGTH IS IN OUR FOCUS

OUR COMMITMENT

  • MOVE FAST
  • BE DECISIVE
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FOCUS

We do one thing extremely well which is dramatically reduce and restructure your business obligations quickly

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DELIVERY

Delivering the results you need is critical to us while ensuring your brand and relationships remain solid

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SUPPORT

Making sure the results are sustainable means helping our clients for the long term.

OUR

PROCESS

ANALYSIS

Deep, fast and unbiased analysis is needed to understand the magnitude of any situation. We know exactly what we are looking for and understand crisis management.

STRATEGY

Our analysis will clearly lead to a strategic debt restructure plan and the best execution plan for you. With the outcomes clearly defined we can move quickly.

EXECUTION

With the strategy well defined, resources in place, systems and milestones set our execution team begins.

SUPPORT

We make sure the executed strategy remains relevant. Training, capital formation, and business planning may also be implemented

A LITTLE BIT
ABOUT OUR
HISTORY

Since 1989 the experts at LawBanx have worked globally delivering sustainable results for corporations who needed specialized solutions. While working for Small, Medium and Large Businesses, Banks, Private Equity Funds and Industry Conglomerates we have been mandated in the most varied enterprises possible. After decades of success our methods remain progressive and essential to business survival with every engagement. Our real-world experience allows us to understand the process that must happen and what works and what does not. Our specific skills allow us to move fast and deliver results. This is when experience truly matters.

REAL WORLD EXPERIENCE MATTERS

THE GOOD NEWS IS, WE HAVE SEEN EVERYTHING.
INDUSTRIES
  • Construction
  • Resort
  • Hotel
  • Telecom
  • Technology
  • Travel
  • Energy
  • Apparel
  • Publication
  • Real Estate Development
  • Real Estate Commercial
  • Residential
EXPERTISE

Over the decades, we have had the privilege of helping owners and institutions across a multitude of industries. Many of the same financial principles apply to all debt restructuring engagements but are uniquely applied to the specific business.

PROVEN PARTNERS

GREAT GLOBAL
PARTNERSHIPS
AND SUPPORT

Audit &
Accounting
Firms
Global
Law Firms
&
Advocates
Brand
Image
&
PR
Experts
Regulatory
&
Compliance
Experts
Caplital
Markets

WHO HIRES LAWBANX

EVERY BUSINESS WILL EXPERIENCE CHALLENGES AT SOME POINT
ENTREPRENEUR

It is never a straight line to success. There are many bumps along the way. Entrepreneurs seek our help to avoid bankruptcy and right-the-ship often resulting in a revitalized and exciting new future for the owner and the company.

INSTITUTIONS

From large schedule “A” banks to small regional banks, they seek our help when they find themselves in a business ownership situation. The company is usually distressed and needs a unique approach to repairing the business and in most cases divest.

CORPORATE

Large industrial conglomerates invest heavily in business assets or enterprises. It doesn’t always work out as expected. Repairs and changes need to be made and quickly. Often a divestiture follows but at greatly improved values.

PRIVATE EQUITY

Private Equity groups enjoy the benefits of complete outsourced debt restructure. Moving fast and decisive is a hallmark that PE’s truly appreciate.

SHAREHOLDER

We are well versed at working in the public markets. Large shareholders of mid market public entities have retained us to repair specific debt issues within the business or pursue a complete turnaround. This often leads to much higher valuations and improved capital raising efforts.

LONG STORY
SHORT.

WE HAVE HANDLED HUNDREDS OF CASES OVER THE DECADES IN MULTIPLE INDUSTRIES ON
BEHALF OF EVERY TYPE OF OWNERSHIP STRUCTURE.

A BETTER TOMORROW

A few notable examples follow but we can share so many more debt crises stories.

Case Highlights

APPAREL FRANCHISE

A master franchisor of a well-known industrial apparel retail chain consisting of over 300 locations had a number of franchises that were failing. It was common for between five and ten locations to be in distress each year, mostly due to management failure. The locations were selected properly, the demographics were in their favour and all analysis suggested the troubled stores should be successful but they were not. In most cases the operator accumulated significant vendor and trade debt and it was beyond their ability to solve the problem alone. The operator was usually looking to sell in hopes of recovering their investment. We found that inventories were not current and seriously over stocked.

Obligations to suppliers were dramatically in arrears and in many cases the location lease was in jeopardy.

The franchisor needed discreet intervention and an arms-length approach which we were able to provide. The operator wanted out and to salvage something. No one wanted failure, litigation or public embarrassment.

We signed a network wide mandate to address all problem locations as they occurred. We structured unique deep-discount arrangements with all apparel manufactures to eliminate the payable overhang.

Using the excess and bloated inventories the operator liquidated noncurrent stock generating sufficient capital to retire the discounted debts. It was critical to also renegotiate the location leasing agreement to reduce the cost of the operations. The individual balance sheet and operating costs were now in a position allowing the franchisor to offer the location to another existing operator in the network or to a new incoming franchisee.

SAVING THE DAY FOR MANY STAKE HOLDERS

For the franchisor they saved a location, protected their brand and avoided uncomfortable negotiations with their supply chain. The quasi arms-length arrangement created discretion.

The operator was able to recover some value, protect their personal reputation and move out of a failing business efficiently and quickly.

The supply chain ended up with a new and successful partner/operator, eliminated the collection issues and improved their relationship with the franchisors supply channel.

Case Highlights

RESORT PROPERTY

Through a series of ownership changes and market issues a well-known schedule “A” bank ended up with the ownership of a popular alpine resort and wellness property. The resort was located in a national park therefore the federal government was the lessor of the land. The bank had hired several managers over the years with little success. During an exceptionally difficult management period a serious storm hit the region. Then lighting struck, literally, knocking out the resorts control systems resulting in significant damaged to the main water supply system. This immediately caused flooding on every floor and all guests had to be evacuated. The flooding persisted and began to erode the underlying cliffs of the resort and potentially causing a major landslide directly in the path of a national highway and village.

We were already well known to the bank from other mandates. We received their emergency call just days before the Christmas break asking us to step in.

We quickly engaged all the necessary contractors needed to take control of the situation including solving the flooding issues.

Our relationships within the construction industry gave us the advantage and the quick response needed. After working through the night, our contractors were able to repair the water main and stop the flooding. On day two it was time for us to take control of all the other issues on behalf of the bank.

Top to bottom restoration was required. Our immediate focus was processing the insurance claims and making sure the environmental authorities were satisfied. The federal government was keenly involved, and they needed to agree to a long term plan. At the same time, the resorts accounts payables, vendors, tour operators and guest reservations all needed to be negotiated. Our team pulled out all stops to address the various parties.
The bank gave us the mandate to resolve issues including finding a longer-term solution for either the management or sale of the resort. We negotiated a large settlement with the insurance company creating an outcome whereby the bank had minimal exposure to continue supporting the project.

The property was completely restored, the federal government signed off on all environmental requirements and renewed the land lease for another 25 years.

A professional resort ownership group was identified, and a sale closed before the next high season began. We were able to engage with the ultimate buyer during the reconstruction process allowing them to provide valuable input resulting in a much better outcome.

Case Highlights

REAL ESTATE
PORTFOLIO

A private family office real estate company which held over 100 single family homes and a number of apartment complexes was failing due to family dysfunction. The property manager who was also a family member was failing to maintain the properties. We were brought in by their personal attorneys and a court ordered mandate to fix the problems. Accounts payable were neglected, rental revenue was quickly declining and regulatory issues were significant. Time was not on our side and the principals were well into a contentious litigation process which added an additional layer of complexity to the mandate.

This was not a receivership but a court ordered trusteeship. We were mandated by the courts to take control of the business, eliminate regulatory issues and restore the properties. Once the mandate was in place and the revenue stabilized we then prepared for the sale of the assets at fair market prices. Within nine months we converted all assets to cash for the courts to settle between the principals.

This project required us to be incredibly disciplined and focused. We were deeply involved in construction oversight, waste management and environmental reclamation, regulatory negotiations, vendor management, property management, bank negotiations and property sales.

We relied on a number of specialized internal resources and understood speed was critical. We needed to tightly manage the professional costs and report to the courts on a regular basis throughout the process. At the end of the day all parties were extremely satisfied although during the process “fire-fighting” was a daily occurrence.

Case Highlights

LUXURY
MAGAZINE

This monthly publication targeted consumers interested in luxury home renovations, high-end interior design, architecture, appliances, and furnishings. The publication was subscription based plus had a strong news stand presence however, advertising was key to its revenue profile. The business was majority owned by a private investor whose highly successful main business was in new development marketing and support of large scale developers. Although the publication was rich with high-end advertisers, prominent subscription levels and a solid circulation they continued to lose money with every edition. The operators who were minority shareholders continually sought further investment from the majority shareholder. Managing their trade debt and accounts payable became a serious issue.

Their vendors and the print-houses were demanding upfront payment before each edition would be published. It was time for help.

The first step was to quickly analyse the situation from within. We took a hands on approach and moved fast.

We reviewed and matched all AR and AP, visited with the supply chain and discretely met with advertisers.

Our analysis discovered that the advertising rates were in line with the market and the content to advertising ratio in the publication was appropriate. The cost of publishing and distribution was normal. Collections were not an issue but the ad space utilization against the rate cards vs deposits didn’t add up. Something did not make sense. We discovered approximately 50% of the advertising revenue was converted to contra.. The minority shareholders were accepting goods and services for the advertising space. This included leased vehicles, personal audio and visual systems, home furnishing and vacations. This led to a significant cash shortfall in the business to meet its vendor debts.

While the majority shareholder sourced new management, we quickly restructured the debts of the business including significant discounts. The majority shareholder was able to sell the restructured publication to a larger publication operator.

Case Highlights

SMALL CAP
PUBLIC COMPANY

A small cap (junior) public company specializing in adult content and intimacy education hosting celebrities such as Dr. Ruth and other well-known experts spent three years developing its platform as a resource portal. At the time, this was a new idea and did not involve pornography. As a junior public company, retail investors along with some institutional investors were key to capital formation and the company’s ability to raise funding. Subscriptions and advertisers were equally difficult to secure due to the stigma of the topic. As hard as they tried to explain their unique proposition, investors were not willing to touch such a controversial stock. The stock price continued to decline which made raising capital even more difficult.

Financial obligations mounted and the Board of Directors and founders contacted us to see what could be done. We could not just simply deal with the financial debts and obligations of the company without solving the fundamental issues.

We analysed the market trends relying on our key strategic relationships.

We then presented the Board with a comprehensive strategy which dealt with all the major issues. With the Boards mandate we moved quickly. Step one was to rebrand and reposition the platform into a fresh new relationship and dating website. Next, we aligned the company with new market makers, PR agencies and promotional companies. It was important that all major stockholders enter into a selling restriction agreement allowing the company to focus on improving the business and not the markets. The rise in the stock was quick and sustainable. Now we could negotiate and settle all historic financial obligations using a much more stable and stronger stock as currency. This included significant concessions from the debt holders and vendors.
Advertising and subscriptions were now developing nicely.

Institutional and retail investors returned to the story and the company was able to attract funding to grow the business and remain current with its vendors. Eventually the site was sold to one of the larger online dating developers. Investors, founders, vendors, regulators, financiers ended up with a success story.

Case Highlights

GERMAN BROKERAGE FIRM

This mandate involved a small German brokerage firm which also carried a unique low level banking license. The firm also had a seat on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange allowing the firm to act as a market maker. The initial capital of the firm was provided by a number of high-net-worth Europeans plus some public capital raises. The funds were used for operations but to also create an investment fund targeting startup opportunities.

The firm had invested most of its capital into a number of opportunities which were not fully investigated and had questionable likelihood for success.

The firm then fell into regulatory problems and was on the verge of losing its licenses, exchange seat and the portfolio of investments would become orphaned.

Our mandate was wide open at this point with a directive to recover and restore whatever was possible.

We were able to divest, although at very low levels, the various investments in the portfolio as a first step. In parallel we reduced the cost of operations and settled the regulators for a period of time while we restructured.  In addition, we focused on new services to attract revenue such as supporting and promoting foreign ADR listings on the Frankfurt exchange as a fee for service. The company was able to attract over 800 foreign listed companies.

With its cost structure in order, new revenue streams, regulators satisfied, and the investment portfolio divested, the founding management team was able to move forward with a much smaller but stable basis to rebuild its business vs. entering administration.  

Case Highlights

JUNIOR OIL AND GAS

This Junior Oil & Gas exploration company was a listed company on a North American exchange tailored to small and microcap companies. The company had been in existence for approximately 10 years. Senior management was frequently replaced by the board of directors trying to find the right team to exploit the company’s oil and gas concessions in Central America plus its mining concessions in South America.

The company continued to languish in the penny stock range and unable to attract appropriate funding in order to launch any drilling or exploration operations on the concessions the company owned.

Our first mandate was to analyze the situation and formulate a plan the board of directors could approve.  The Second mandate was to then to implement the approved plan.

The plan consisted of divesting the mining concessions in order to focus on the oil and gas assets exclusively.  Next, we would acquire an appropriate management team that could take the oil and gas assets forward once funding was arranged.  A series of adjustments were made to the capital structure of the company including a consolidation.  Funding was negotiated with a well-known hedge fund and the company was now capitalized sufficiently to start its drilling program plus acquire additional concessions in Texas.

On an equivalent basis, post consolidation, the company’s stock value rose 18-fold in a period of six months.  The new investor relations team was able to market the story properly and volume supported a healthy market for this junior company.

The management team was able to successfully acquire a sizable interest in the company and it continued on successfully after our mandate was finished. The market cap of this company grew from USD $5million to over $80million during our strategic restructure.

THE COST OF SURVIVAL

We work with each client to develop a suitable cost structure and arrangement. We make sure your business wins, always. We are creative and work in the most suitable way to ensure we do not add extra burden to the organization especially when it is in crisis. We will work on a retainer only basis, performance only basis, stock ownership basis stretched and lower long term retainers or any combination of the above. We believe our solution cannot add to the problem. We are also entrepreneurs that understand the value of results and hard work. We have all suffered unfulfilled promises along the way from consultants, advisors and the inexperienced. We are not them.

TIMING

As said, time is critical. Move fast and decisive. Depending on the requirements, the project can be quick or in the case of larger workouts time to execute can take longer. Our initial analysis will help us develop the timing and cost. We are here to deliver the result quickly and efficiently. We are keenly aware of “the law of diminishing returns”, for both of us.

REGULATORY ENVIRONMENT

ALTERNATIVE TO BANKRUPTCY, INSOLVENCY OR ADMINISTRATION
worldmap

Regulatory regimes worldwide have a multitude of rules, regulations and formulas to follow when dealing with financial trouble in your business. In most cases, if addressed quickly, the crisis can be managed with very positive outcomes. Most jurisdictions allow for restructuring your obligations to address liquidity and balance sheet issues to satisfy the regulations and avoid any administrative actions. With the global pandemic, governments have dramatically relaxed the rules, however, this will not last forever.

OTHER SERVICES

DESKTOP BUSINESS VALUATIONS

Valuations are conducted on a pre and post workout method. Using market com.ps, known industry markers, assets or a combination of all..

BUSINESS PLAN WRITING

For external audiences such as capital markets or for internal use the Business Plan tells the your story.

BUSINESS PLAN MODELS

Business Plan Models are necessary tool for internal and external audiences. They can be to complex or not deep enough. We believe your model should be a utility and not a once a year chore.

KPI DEVELOPMENT

Developing and understanding Key Performance Indicators is the score card your people must live by. They must be relevant and consistent with your expectations, your bankers expectations and any potential buyer of your business.

LIQUIDITY ANALYSIS

Whether for regulators, capital markets, internal or external use a Liquidity Analysis can help you make critical decisions.

FEASIBILITY STUDIES

Before launching a new division, product, service, Public-Private-Partnership or governmental social program, a Feasibility Study could be critical to your analysis and investment decision.

           

REAL RESULTS FOR BUSINESS

JOIN LAWBANX PROFESSIONALS

EVERY BUSINESS WILL EXPERIENCE DIFFICULTY AT SOME POINT

                       
ANALYST

If you possess a strong background in financial analysis and a solid understanding of the key issues which drive positive or negative results for any enterprises, you could be an ideal candidate for LawBanx. We are always looking for gifted and efficient analysts to support our Case Managers and their respective clients.

                       
CASE MANAGER

If you possess a strong background in financial analysis and a solid understanding of the key issues which drive positive or negative results for any enterprises, you could be an ideal candidate for LawBanx. We are always looking for gifted and efficient analysts to support our Case Managers and their respective clients.

                       
REFERAL AGENT

You may be an active consultant, attorney, auditor or accountant with access to special situations and customers who need the help of LawBanx. We work with Agents and ensure proper remuneration is agreed upon with each special situation and what level of engagement the Agent wishes to be involved from a simple referral to actively supporting the customer alongside LawBanx efforts.

                       
SALES

If you are actively involved with entrepreneurs and have the ability to understand their challenges or if you work within the business-to-business consulting environment, you may be an ideal fit for LawBanx. Finding distressed business situations is definitely a talent we at LawBanx appreciate.

To learn more please share your information such as your CV or Biography with us.

We will review your information quickly and respond.

Send your information to info@lawbanx.com with the subject Join LawBanx.

NEVER GIVE UP. TODAY IS HARD, TOMORROW WILL BE WORSE, BUT THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW WILL BE SUNSHINE.

JACK MA

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