STARSM ─ Strategic Advisory Review

Over the years, Stonebridge Associates has provided STARSM, our Strategic Advisory Review service, to a wide range of information technology, healthcare, business service, manufacturing, and consumer goods companies. In this capacity, we identify and assess a variety of financial and strategic options to assist clients in making critical decisions. In every STAR assignment, our experienced bankers recommend a course of action that takes into consideration shareholders’ liquidity goals, management’s strategic objectives, and the company’s capital requirements. To that end, we present an unbiased view on the relative merits of a range of strategic options that may include:

  • Executing a leveraged recapitalization or management buyout
  • Raising growth capital in the form of equity or subordinated debt
  • Pursuing a sale of minority interest to strategic or institutional investors
  • Considering a "change-of-control" merger or acquisition
  • Establishing a joint venture partnership
  • Assessing the ability to grow through acquisitions
  • Divesting non-core assets or business units
  • Implementing a corporate reorganization or restructuring
  • Exploring an initial public offering
  • Evaluating potential licensing opportunities
  • Investigating non-equity corporate funding
  • Examining the implications of maintaining the status quo

Virtually all STAR engagements are discrete, fixed-fee projects. As such, clients are not obligated to retain Stonebridge for follow-on assignments.

Assignment Characteristics
Each STAR engagement typically lasts between 8-12 weeks and includes a comprehensive report, detailed analyses, and specific recommendations designed to help organizations align their corporate growth, shareholder liquidity, and management team objectives. Our experienced team of investment bankers is able to effectively address the unique needs of middle market and emerging growth companies by leveraging their understanding of the dynamic relationships between capital utilization, effective corporate strategy, and the ultimate returns earned by shareholders in both private and public companies.

While each advisory assignment is tailored to address the client’s specific needs and objectives, our STAR process includes several key components that are common to all engagements.