Preparing for an Audit and Sale; Transition to Permanent CFO

The partners in a Los Angeles-based investment advisory firm and investment bank with over $7 billion in assets under management decided to sell the business. While the partners, with their deep M&A experience, understood the importance of well-prepared financial statements, they also knew that their company lacked audited financial statements.

The firm frequently referred clients with similar accounting problems to Buxbaum, so they knew we would resolve their issues quickly so they could go to market.

Buxbaum Solutions

We pursued a two-phase engagement:

• Phase 1: Senior and junior Buxbaum finance professionals jointly worked to prepare the client for its first financial audit.
• Phase 2: Our senior resource, an experienced M&A CFO, remained with the company post-audit to assist with buyer due diligence and closing, and again post-close to assist with integration.

Value Creation

Over a few weeks, our team of finance professionals successfully prepared the firm’s books and financial records for its first financial audit. Our CFO was an instrumental member of the M&A team, contributing to the successful sale for $125 million. The buyer was so impressed with our CFO that she was asked to remain during the post-acquisition integration phase, then was offered a permanent position as CFO responsible for finance and accounting for the acquirer and its U.S. subsidiaries.