Services

 Strategy Consulting

• Definition of Mission & Vision
• Strategy Development
• Strategic Planning
• Strategy Review
• Business Plan Review and Development
• Business Model Review and Development
• Distribution & Sales Model Review and Development
• At Corporate, Portfolio and Business Unit Level

Strategy Consulting for Transactions

• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Alliances & Joint Ventures
• Divestments
• Initial Public and Secondary Offerings

Strategy Consulting for Family-Owned and Privately-Held Enterprises

Strategy Consulting for State-Owned and Regulated Enterprises

Innovative Strategy Models

Growth & Innovation

• Growth Strategies
• Business Development
• Business Model Innovation
• Distribution & Sales Model Innovation
• Business and Market Development & Internationalization
• Innovation Strategy and Management
• Product Portfolio Management

Client Results

Results we can achieve together:

• Realization of a growth strategy with profitable growth of 8% per year (CAGR)
• Increase of EBIT-margin by 2.5 percentage points through a corporate portfolio repositioning
• Expanding market leadership through selective geographic expansion
• Realizing cost savings potentials of EUR 15 Mio. (12%  of total costs) of an organizational unit within three years, whilst at the same time increasing productivity and customer satisfaction
• Increase of EBITDA by 20% over the previous year by rapidly growing the service business
• Restructuring of a strategic alliance to secure the value creation of a EUR 70 million investment
• Securing the long-term future of a family-owned business by a strategy of profitable growth, productivity increases and optimization of financial structure
• Successful implementation of the strategic repositioning and portfolio restructuring within 18 months to remove hopelessly cash-negative businesses and dramatically improve the performance of cash cows and stars
• Penetration of new markets and growth of more than 20% per year by executing a Mergers & Acquisitions strategy
• Concentration of research & development budget on those innovation projects with the highest success chance, to increase the expected return on investment of the innovation portfolio threefold
• Igniting growth with marketing, sales, and pricing

Client Testimonials

Mag. Alexander Tremmel | Managing Partner | SKB Industrieholding
"It was a pleasure to work with you in reviewing and redefining our corporate and business unit strategies. The results of the consulting project with your firm have helped us to make significant progress towards the achievement of our business and shareholder goals. You worked together with us to create practical, "real-world" strategic actions that deliver tangible value, based on a pragmatic, but thorough review and assessment of our options. Also, we highly appreciate your skill and helpfulness in appropriately integrating our key managers into the consulting process and making sure that they are really on board and well-aligned for its successful implementation. Our association with HIRT&FRIENDS has provided us with an excellent return on our consulting investment."

Wolfgang Köchert | Mag. Christoph Köchert | Florian Köchert| Shareholders | A.E. Köchert Jewellers

"We would like to thank you very much for your excellent advice and our good cooperation for ten years now! Your pragmatic, well-founded and implementation-oriented approaches, combined with your disciplined moderation and support of our strategic decisions, have made an important contribution to the successful growth and development of the Köchert company over the last ten years. In particular, you have succeeded very well in finding the right balance between diplomacy and consistency, which is important for successfully accompanying and supporting the development of a family business. We are looking forward to continuing our cooperation and our continued success together!

Francisco De Sousa Webber | Founder & CEO | cortical.io

"I had the pleasure to work with Michael over a period of more than 2 years, on a number of strategic projects during my tenure as CEO of Matrixware. His advice was clear, practical and to the point. He has helped the board to make better decisions and to execute them effectively. His recommendations were based on state-of-the-art methods and validated by sound business judgement. I can highly recommend him, if you need fast, high-quality results with a strong positive impact on the performance of your organisation."

Further client comments here.

Services

 Mergers & Acquisitions

• M&A Strategy Development
• Due Diligence Services
  • Strategic & Commercial
  • Operational
  • Financial & Valuation
  • Management
• Process and Negotiation Support
• Post Acquisition Strategy
• Post Merger Integration Planning & Implementation

Alliances & Joint Ventures

• Strategy Development
• Partner Selection
• Process and Negotiation Support
• Design of Management Processes

Divestments

• Strategy Consulting for Sellers
• Vendor Due Diligence
• Equity Story & Business Plan
• Process and Negotiation Support

Initial Public & Secondary Offerings

• Strategy Consulting
• Equity Story & Business Plan

Client Results

Examples of results that we can achieve together:
 

• Implementation of a growth strategy with profitable growth averaging 8% per year
• Increase of the EBIT margin by a sustainable 2.5%-points by restructuring the Group portfolio
• Extension of market leadership through selective expansion into new regions
• Restructuring of a strategic alliance to secure the value of an investment of over EUR 70 million
• Sustainable safeguarding of a family business through growth, increased profitability and optimization of the financing structure
• Successful implementation of strategic repositioning and product portfolio streamlining within 18 months
• Development of new markets and growth of more than 20% per year by implementing a mergers & acquisitions strategy

Client Projects 

Selected Client Projects:

• Development of growth strategy through acquisitions for the brewing division of a leading Central European Beverages Group
• Merger analysis for two leading Central European Brewery Groups
• Analysis of potential take-over candidates in the German brewing industry for a leading Central European Brewery Group
• Strategic due diligence for the acquisition of a large Eastern European Brewery by a leading Central European Beverages Group
• Analysis of take-over candidates in the British and Dutch chain restaurant industry
• Strategic due diligence of a German Department Store Chain from the perspective of a private equity investor
• Strategic due diligence for the buy-out of one of the largest high-tech start-ups in the USA by a leading German company in the field of printing technology
• Sale of an International Manufacturer of high precision components for the oilfield service industry to an industrial investor
• Sale of a Stainless Steel Pipes Producer to the management team (MBO)
• Sale of a leading Central European Aluminum Manufacturer and Processor to an industry group and to management
• Sale of an International Engineering & Facility Management Company to a global medical device manufacturer
• Analysis of take-over targets in Europe’s upscale hotel industry
• Analysis of take-over targets in the British construction industry
• IPO of a European Footwear Manufacturing Group
• Preparation of the public offering of a Telecom Start-Up Company (land-lines, mobiles, ISP)
• Growth strategy and preparation for the IPO of a leading Film and TV Production Company in Germany and Austria
• Strategy and structure evaluation for the IPO of the Internet information portal of a leading German Magazine Publisher
• IPO of a leading UK Casino Group with international activities
• IPO of a leading European Steel and Automotive Components Manufacturer
• Secondary offering of a leading European Specialty Steel Manufacturer