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From Cash-Basis Chaos to a $200M+ Exit: How a Growing Lighting Manufacturer Closed with Confidence

Business Challenges

  • Rapid growth and a pending sale strained a lean finance team with limited transaction experience.
  • Incomplete and lost financial data due to a ransomware attack impacted their audit.
  • An experienced buyer team placed significant information demands on a seller navigating its first audit and sale.

Key Outcomes

  • Achieved a successful first-time audit by rebuilding and converting financials to an accrual, GAAP-compliant basis.
  • Enabled a $200M+ transaction by supporting due diligence, responding to buyer requests, and advising the seller throughout the process.
  • Preserved value post-close by disputing proposed working capital adjustments and avoiding over $1M in reductions.

Project Overview

Amid rapid growth, the company required audit support. A lean finance team — comprised of a CFO and a senior accountant — was tasked with managing the company’s first-ever audit while supporting a rigorous due diligence process led by a sophisticated buyer. Bridgepoint Consulting was engaged to help stabilize the financial foundation, guide the company through its audit, and provide hands-on transaction support through close and beyond. Our team worked closely with company leadership, auditors, and the investment banker to ensure accuracy, responsiveness, and confidence throughout the transaction lifecycle.

Business Challenge

Like many small to mid-sized companies, the organization’s finance team was stretched thin and focused primarily on supporting ongoing operations. The additional demands of an audit and due diligence process created a significant burden, particularly given the loss of historical data during a ransomware attack and the absence of prior audit or transaction experience.

At the same time, the buyer’s experienced diligence team requested extensive documentation and raised detailed questions about financial trends and balances. Without prior exposure to a sale process, the seller needed support not only in preparing accurate information, but also in reviewing requests, responding efficiently, and appropriately challenging buyer assumptions.

The Approach

Bridgepoint Consulting began by rebuilding the company’s financials using third-party source documentation, including bank statements, vendor statements, invoices, and shipping records, to ensure completeness and accuracy. Once reconstructed, our team converted the financials from a cash basis to an accrual basis and prepared GAAP-compliant financial statements.

We led the company through its first audit by coordinating with auditors and preparing detailed support, including reconciliations, rollforwards, accounts receivable proof schedules, and other balance sheet and income statement support. Following the audit, we transitioned seamlessly into due diligence support—preparing schedules, managing buyer requests, facilitating Q&A, and advising the seller on how to address inquiries.

Throughout the process, our team worked closely with the company’s investment banker to respond to financial questions and maintain momentum toward close. After the transaction closed, Bridgepoint continued to support the seller by reviewing proposed working capital adjustments and successfully disputing items that were not supported.

The Results

  • Completed the company’s first audit with accurate, GAAP-compliant financial statements despite prior data loss.
  • Supported a successful sale valued at $200M+ by managing diligence requests and guiding the seller through a complex transaction.
  • Defended the company against unsupported post-close working capital claims, avoiding over approximately $1M in proposed adjustments.