DUE DILIGENCE PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR HONOREE
GAURAV MALHOTRA
Assurance and M&A Partner
Lucas Horsfall
Gaurav Malhotra worked on a sell-side deal with one of the largest meat processing/ distributors in Southern California. The deal came into the office due to conflicts and disagreements with their prior QOE provider. Lucas Horsfall came in to provide value (building off the original sell-side QOE), rolling it forward for the next fiscal year and completing all of this within an accelerated three week timeframe. The primary value add was the speed and velocity Malhotra and firm operated at while dealing with a messy financials, comingled with personal expenses to raise EBITDA by nearly $1 million. This led to a start of a strong relationship that has developed into tax diligence, audit work and tax planning work. Malhotra also worked on a purchase of a law firm with over three entities including several acquisitions during the historical period. This deal came into the door due to our expertise with service based firms. The financials/accounting were not a priority for the company similar to other businesses in our market. The team worked diligently to restate the financials from cash to accrual basis, ensured that purchase accounting was accurate and all liabilities were uncovered. During the diligence phase, Malhotra and team uncovered a large, deferred revenue balance (unrecorded on the balance sheet) and undisclosed by the sell-side team. This balance amounted to several million and an immediate possible deal breaker for the client. With this liability uncovered and quantified, the team was able to assist with renegotiations for more favorable terms and ultimately support the close at a fair price.
