Addressing Financial Uncertainty and Enabling Strategic Growth

Our team equipped the company’s finance team with support, to turn crisis into opportunity, protecting value in the short term and enabling strategic growth and a successful exit in the long term. The clarity, flexibility, and credibility provided by a robust financial model were critical to both survival and success.

What the Client Said

“We closed the deal today with feelings of delight and relief after 5 months of hard work. Great results on the project. Despite brutal timing all three projects I’ve worked on with Swan are a tick in the box. I will definitely be working with you again!” – Majority Shareholder

“We were very pleased to get the transaction completed! The acquirer were impressed with the model. Thank you for all of your support over the past few years.” – CFO

The Client’s Challenges

The client, a leading travel agency, faced a period of unprecedented financial uncertainty during the COVID-19 pandemic. The business was confronted with:

• Severe liquidity constraints: The sudden collapse in travel demand threatened cash flow and put the company’s survival at risk.
• Complex restructuring decisions: Management needed to rapidly assess multiple restructuring options, each with different implications for funding, debt, and operational continuity.
• Lack of scenario planning capability: The existing financial model was not equipped to handle the breadth of scenarios required to make informed, real-time decisions.
• Changing customer behaviour: Traditional forecasting methods became unreliable as booking patterns shifted dramatically.
• Integration of new business units: The recent acquisition of a German subsidiary added further complexity to financial planning and reporting.

These issues created significant pressure on the finance function, which lacked the capacity and tools to respond quickly and confidently to both internal and external stakeholders. The risk of making suboptimal decisions was high, with potential consequences for liquidity, compliance, and ultimately, business continuity.

Our Solution

Rapid Hands on Support

We enhanced the client’s financial model within days to provide the finance team and leadership with the clarity and flexibility needed to navigate the crisis:

• Built in 20+ scenario options, allowing management to toggle between restructuring strategies and instantly see the impact on cash flow and funding needs.
• Developed a flexible funding module to test different capital structures.
• Introduced direct cash flow and T-account functionality for a granular view of liquidity and working capital requirements.
• Adapted the model to reflect new customer behaviours and integrated the German subsidiary.
• Provided commercial analysis to validate key assumptions.
• Ensured the model could be embedded into regular reporting, empowering the finance team to take ownership.

Assistance with the Sell Side

Following a period of stability the business prepared for a strategic exit, we ensured the model accurately reflected operations by realigning it to “follow the business.” We enhanced the Model to demonstrate that stability of the business and the equity story:

• Remove crisis-era scenarios and refocus on growth and value creation.
• Enable detailed modelling of strategic initiatives, acquisitions, and operational drivers at brand, provider, and product level.
• Expand debtor and creditor modelling to improve cash forecasting accuracy.
• Build outputs that clearly demonstrated business value to potential buyers, including revenue, margin, and booking metrics by geography and product.
• Update covenant calculations to demonstrate ongoing compliance.
• Support management and stakeholders throughout the sale process, responding to diligence queries and providing confidence to bidders.

The Impact

In the Restructuring

• Informed, confident decision-making: The finance team could quickly assess options, understand risks, and communicate clearly with the board, lenders, and investors.
• Business continuity and resilience: The business secured additional funding, restructured debt, and survived the pandemic’s worst impacts.

In the Sale Process

• Enhanced credibility with buyers: The adapted model became a key asset in the sale process, providing transparency and building trust with acquirers and advisors.
• Empowered finance function: The model was handed over to management, enabling ongoing use for reporting, budgeting, and strategic planning.