Advice
Strategy and Analytics
Mettle assists businesses in analysing their financial performance as part of the process of guiding a board of directors and/or management team to set or evaluate the achievement of a company’s strategic objectives. This process typically results in an action plan focused on one or more of the following outcomes:
- optimising the business’s balance sheet;
- incubating a new business;
- acquiring or disposing of an existing business;
- accelerating the growth of a business or investment; or
- developing and implementing a management incentivisation strategy.
Fees are typically structured on the basis of outcomes or deliverables.
Balance sheet optimisation
Mettle enhances the company’s capital structure by first assessing its value, future cash flows and liquidity requirements. This will determine the optimisation process in that we will know whether we should restructure existing debt and/or raise new debt (senior/mezzanine) or equity.
Incubator and accelerator (Venture Capital)
Mettle supports entrepreneurs as they build their businesses. This includes assisting with their business model, operational and management structure, strategy, financial modelling and capital requirement assessment. This will assist stakeholders to maximise the value realised from their business, within a specific timeframe. Our fees may take the form of an equity interest in the business.
Employee share ownership plan
Mettle will assist management or the board to develop a focused management incentivisation plan, aimed at ensuring that the employees of a business are incentivised in a manner that will assist the company to achieve its strategic objectives. This could take the form of cash- or equity-settled schemes.
Environmental, Social and Corporate governance reviews:
Mettle facilitates independent reviews for the borrower and the lender to improve board processes and effectiveness whilst meeting best practice, regulatory requirements and the company’s overall purpose.
Ownership succession planning
Mettle assists clients to ensure that they can derive maximum value from business ownership. This includes various interventions with regards to change management, management structures, incentivisation and balance sheet optimisation.
Empowerment Solutions
Mettle assists businesses to identify and implement an overall strategy to improve their Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (“B-BBEE”) ownership score and preferential procurement in terms of the score cards. Fees are typically structured on the basis of a retainer linked to deliverables, with a success portion. Clients are typically family owned, mid-tier private companies or multinational organisations. Minimum company value should be R20 million.
Transaction Support
The following services are offered in support of corporate actions undertaken by Mettle clients:
Due diligence investigations (Financial and Legal)
Mettle performs independent due diligence investigations – both financial and legal – with a view to providing our clients with all the salient information about the transaction under consideration, thereby enabling them to make suitably informed decisions in respect of the corporate action in question.
Valuations
Mettle performs independent valuations in respect of companies, intangible assets such as share options, trademarks, patents, software programs and applications, and provides independent expert reports and fair and reasonable opinions in terms of the Companies Act 2008 as well as for submission to the South African Reserve Bank (“SARB”), in respect of the export of intellectual property.
Approved JSE Debt Sponsor
Mettle advises corporate clients regarding the application of the JSE’s Debt Listing Requirements in respect of prospective and current debt issuers (exceeding R100 million) in accessing the wider capital markets requiring added liquidity and transferability.
Equity Sponsor services
Mettle has a joint venture in place to provide a seamless service in respect of corporate actions carried out by our clients.