Industries

Business Services

From tightening client budgets for high-dollar services, to the unpredictable nature of incoming business, professional and business services firms find themselves balancing pressure and unpredictability in equal measures. Additionally, with increased transparency comes increased exposure to reputational risk, and many professional services providers have found themselves in hot water for sensitive work that in years past might have stayed entirely confidential. For many of these firms who trade in ideas and counsel, their reputation is all they have.

With clients demanding the best work possible in as little time as possible, professional services executives have enough to manage without needing to reposition their business strategy. SCP’s experts can help you navigate change at your business while you focus on keeping your clients satisfied.

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Case Studies

Business Services Industry Team Members

William White

Senior Director

Roger Gorog

Senior Director

Bob Riiska

Managing Director

Ahmed Shamsi

Director

Bill Partridge

Managing Director

Curt Kroll

Partner

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William White

Senior Director

BiographyNotable Assignments

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Industry Expertise

William White, a Senior Director at SierraConstellation Partners, has over 12 years of experience advising companies and creditor groups through complex transactions, including in- and out-of-court restructurings, distressed mergers and acquisitions, and challenging financings.

He has worked with clients across a variety of industries and executed transactions ranging in size from less than $100 million to over $20 billion. His industry experience includes apparel, automotive, consumer retail, manufacturing, distribution, infrastructure, technology and telecommunications.

Prior to joining SCP, Mr. White was a vice president in the restructuring group at Rothschild, Inc. in New York. He also worked as a financial analyst in the financial restructuring group at Houlihan Lokey and as a financial analyst in the corporate finance group at Ernst & Young.

Mr. White holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Southern California and earned his MBA from New York University.

  • Served as interim manager of a designer, manufacturer and retailer of branded children’s apparel operating 82 stores and an e-commerce platform during its restructuring and sale of assets.
  • Advised a leading manufacturer of waste handling and recycling equipment in North America on the consensual out-of-court restructuring of $725 million in debt obligations.
  • Advised a leading global manufacturer of wire harnesses on its $325 million pre-packaged restructuring.
  • Advised a global Tier 1 automotive supplier during its Chapter 11 restructuring of approximately $22.2 billion of pre-petition liabilities.
  • Advised a Tier 2 industrial supplier on its $335 million pre-negotiated restructuring.
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Roger Gorog

Senior Director

BiographyNotable Assignments

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Industry Expertise

Roger Gorog, a Senior Director at SierraConstellation Partners, provides operational and financial advisory services to underperforming companies and companies in transition. His experience includes in- and out-of-court restructurings, business cost rationalizations, operational turnarounds, interim management, and transaction advisory services. Roger has experience across a variety of industries including, Aerospace & Defense, Business Services, Construction, Consumer Products & Retail, Energy, Financial Services, Food & Agriculture, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Real Estate, and Transportation & Logistics.

Before joining SCP, Roger was a Director at Alvarez & Marsal in their Healthcare Group where he worked on several large bankruptcy cases and numerous out of court restructurings. Prior to A&M, Roger worked in public accounting at Deloitte & Touche where he worked on financial statement audits of various corporations, both public and private.

Roger received his bachelor’s degree in economics and accounting from Claremont McKenna College and his Master of Business Administration (MBA) from The Peter Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University. He is licensed as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA, inactive) and a Certified Insolvency & Restructuring Advisor (CIRA). He is an active member of the Association of Insolvency & Restructuring Advisors (AIRA) and the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA).

  • Interim CFO to a food manufacturer facing serious operational issues after losing its largest customer. He successfully reduced operating expenses and cash burn while negotiating with major vendors and the Company’s lender to extend their runway.
  • Officer for a leading cancer research institute where he was responsible for all finance and accounting related activities during a Ch. 11 bankruptcy and associated sale.
  • Financial advisor to large retail chain facing serious liquidity and liability issues. Communicated with all constituents, negotiated landlord concessions, and managed cash while we prepared for bankruptcy filing and associated liquidation sales.
  • Served as a financial advisor to a national ambulance company through a prepacked Chapter 11 bankruptcy that reduced balance sheet obligations by $350 million.
  • Financial advisor to an oil and gas E&P company where we successfully sold assets to strategic buyers, providing needed liquidity to maintain go-forward operations and successfully repay lenders and creditors.
  • Lead a due diligence assessment of a target company for a private equity firm that led to a successful transaction of medical information services provider. After the acquisition, he was further retained to assist in developing the integration plan, including development of various strategic initiatives to improve overall financial performance.
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Bob Riiska

Managing Director

BiographyNotable Assignments

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Industry Expertise

Robert O. Riiska, a Managing Director at SierraConstellation Partners, has over 25 years of turnaround and advisory experience, including serving in interim senior management capacities for clients and performing numerous value-added consulting assignments. Clients have included multigenerational family businesses, sponsor-backed roll-ups and large publicly traded corporations.

Mr. Riiska is a Certified Turnaround Professional (CTP), Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA). He received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and an M.B.A. in Finance and Marketing from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Mr. Riiska serves on the boards of several leading industry associations including the Executive Committee of the Turnaround Management Association’s Southern California Chapter, the Advisory Board of the American Bankruptcy Institute’s Bankruptcy Battleground West and as a Secured Finance Network member director.

In 2019, Mr. Riiska received the Turnaround Atlas Award for his work as Chief Restructuring Officer of LORAC Cosmetics prior to joining SCP in 2018.

Mr. Riiska’s recent engagements have been in diverse industries, including automotive dealerships, transportation, furniture manufacturing and retailers, apparel, mining, cryptocurrency lending, nonprofits, consumer products, restaurants and industrials.

  • Served as CRO of a gold mine located in the Southwest U.S., spearheading out-of-court restructuring efforts which led to a successful sale.
  • Served as financial advisor to a manufacturer and distributor of commercial office furniture, negotiating a forbearance agreement which would give the company sufficient operational runway to recover from the issues mainly caused by the pandemic.
  • As CRO of a prestige cosmetics company based in Los Angeles, oversaw all aspects of day-to-day operations, including directly interfacing with large national retailers and suppliers, and developing and executing liquidation strategies for excess inventory, while also coordinating successful sale efforts.
  • As financial advisor to a consumer packaging company, negotiated a new financing solution to provide liquidity to maintain core operations and pursue growth initiatives, while also achieving a successful sale of one of the divisions in an expedited timeframe.
  • As financial advisor to a $500 million long-haul trucking company, developed a successful turnaround plan and convinced the lenders to provide a significant structured loan overadvance to facilitate execution of the plan.
  • Served as financial advisor to a $300 million family-owned grocery wholesaler and developed a comprehensive turnaround plan to return the business to profitability.
  • Served as CRO of a $900 million publicly-traded staffing company with over 30,000 temporary employees. Successfully sold several business units after a massive tax fraud related to an affiliated company had been discovered.
  • Acted as Financial Advisor to one of the largest manufacturers of recreational vehicles while it operated in Chapter 11, leading to a successful asset sale.
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Ahmed Shamsi

Director

BiographyNotable Assignments

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Industry Expertise

Ahmed Shamsi, a Director out of Los Angeles at SierraConstellation Partners, supports Directors in providing operational and financial restructuring and advisory services to both underperforming companies and companies in transition.

Prior to joining SCP, Ahmed was an Audit Senior at Deloitte & Touche. His responsibilities included supporting and leading financial statement audits by identifying financial reporting risks, overseeing the implementation various audit procedures, and effectively managing teams of 2-5 people to meet strict reporting deadlines. Through auditing Ahmed has gained exposure to a variety of industries including Financial Services, Retail, eCommerce, and Manufacturing.

In 2021, Ahmed won the 15th Annual M&A Advisor Turnaround Award under the category of ‘Turnaround of the Year (Over $100MM)’ for his work with Alto Ingredients (fka Pacific Ethanol).

Ahmed earned a B.S. in Business Administration and Accounting from the University of Southern California. He is a CFA® charterholder and a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in the state of California. In 2021, he successfully completed ACG’s Middle-Market Certification program.

He is a member of the CFA Institute and CFALA society.

  • Managed a portfolio of distressed real estate assets and wholesale fabric businesses. Ahmed assisted with a $156M real estate transaction to obtain fresh liquidity of $19M for the business portfolio that extended the liquidity runway and improved strategic options for the portfolio. Additionally, he oversaw the winddown of fabric operations that yielded approximately $1.2M which were used to pay expenses and paydown bank debt.
  • Spearheaded audit that generates one of the highest fees among nonpublic clients within LA consumer products audit group. Responsibilities include leading quarterly financial statement reviews, executing work with minimal guidance and supervision, and coordinating workflow effectively between staff/senior team members to meet strict client deadlines.
  • Analyzed retail stores for impairment by performing sensitivity analysis on client’s DCF models by adjusting key assumptions (revenue growth rate and EBITDA margin). Resulted in a ~$500K finding that was communicated to the client.
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Bill Partridge

Managing Director

BiographyNotable Assignments

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Industry Expertise

Bill Partridge, a Managing Director at SierraConstellation Partners, has over 25 years of corporate finance, restructuring and capital markets expertise, across multiple industries including technology, biotech, media, energy and construction. Since joining SCP, Bill has worked closely with management teams, boards of directors, and stakeholders through many complex situations, leading them to successful results.

Prior to SCP, Bill spent several years as an interim executive and turnaround consultant taking on many unique and challenging engagements for private companies throughout the U.S.

Bill’s experience also includes leadership roles in private equity, banking, and as management at several operating businesses including Suntech, where he worked on its successful restructuring. His private equity and banking experience includes JP Morgan Partners, Credit Suisse and ABN AMRO Bank.

Bill’s work has yielded positive outcomes and earned him several recent industry awards:

  • In 2022, Bill was recognized in Global M&A Network’s 9th annual list of Top 100 Restructuring Professionals.
  • In 2022, Bill won the 14th Annual Turnaround Atlas Awards under the category of Private Equity Acquisition Deal of the Year.
  • In 2021, Bill won the 15th Annual M&A Advisor Turnaround Award under the category of ‘Information Technology Deal of the Year’ for his work with Wave Computing.

Bill received a BBA in Finance from the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame and an MBA from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California.

  • Financial advisor to the board of Embark Technology, Inc, a publicly traded autonomous trucking software company sold to Applied Intuition.
  • Financial advisor to board and CEO team leader for IT services and solutions provider based in Canada and US.
  • Financial advisor to board of a data center and fiber to the home outsourced service provider.
  • Financial advisor to board and Trustee to Debtor in Chapter 11 of publicly traded bio-pharma company, Zosano Pharma Inc.
  • Financial advisor in sale of private equity backed healthcare AI driven SaaS provider JVION to health analytics company, Lightbeam.
  • Financial advisor to Weldmac, a steel fabrication company, in its successful sale to TriMas (NASDAQ: TRS).
  • CRO team leader for business services company, Metco, in accelerated private sale process.
  • CRO team leader for Wave Computing, Inc. Chapter 11 reorganization. Debtor is a Silicon Valley based fabless semiconductor and AI technology company that owns MIPS IP core technology. Successfully orchestrated a plan of reorganization that provided liquidity for new product growth, while satisfying allowed creditor claims.
  • As interim CFO at a private B-corporation, improved liquidity through refinancing and the securitization of $40 million capital lease financings funded by a consortium of family offices and non-bank lenders.
  • Served as interim CFO at renewable energy company during refinancing and entry into foreign market. Bill led the expansion of the finance and accounting departments and successfully structured and raised corporate capital and off-balance-sheet project financing.
  • Financial advisor to rebar fabrication and construction company.
  • Financial advisor to stakeholders in a discount grocery store chain.
  • Financial advisor to board of a data center and fiber to the home outsourced service provider.
  • Represented debtor in restructuring of $2 billion multinational manufacturing company with headquarters in China.
  • Prior member of general partnership managing $360 million portfolio of private equity investments in technology companies.
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Curt Kroll

Partner

BiographyNotable Assignments

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Industry Expertise

Curt Kroll, a Partner at SierraConstellation Partners, provides interim management and operational and financial advisory services to underperforming companies and companies in transition. His experience includes challenging CRO roles, interim management, refinancings, distressed acquisitions and in- and out-of court restructurings. Mr. Kroll has held roles in various industries including retail, industrial manufacturing, real estate, financial services, and healthcare.

Prior to joining SCP, Mr. Kroll was the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Information Officer at Katy Industries, Inc., a publicly-traded manufacturer of consumer and industrial products with operations throughout the United States and Canada. While at Katy, he worked on numerous refinancings, acquisitions, operational integrations, and restructuring transactions. Prior to Katy, Mr. Kroll was a manager at Deloitte where we worked with middle-market and corporate clients across industries. Prior to Deloitte, he also spent 3 years in a regional public accounting firm working with middle-market companies.

In 2022, Curt won the M&A Advisor’s 16th Annual Turnaround Award (between $10mm and $100mm) for his work on the turnaround of francesca’s.

Mr. Kroll holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in accountancy from the University of Missouri. He is licensed as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA Inactive).

  • Served as CFO of a publicly traded-consumer product manufacturing company where he lead the company through a restructuring process that ultimately led to a return to investors through the sale of the business.
  • Served as a financial advisor to a $500 million outsourcing company through a sale process to a private equity group.
  • Served as a financial advisor for a $600 million oil and gas pipe manufacturer in a refinancing of its debt.
  • Served as a CRO to a $700 million national retail chain during its restructuring process.
  • Interim Chief Financial Officer to a national bridal retail company where he led the team post-bankruptcy to rebuild the Company’s brand image, employee morale and trust with key stakeholders including the debt holders.
  • Chief Restructuring Officer and Interim Chief Financial Officer to a national retail company where he executed a series of cost reductions and operational improvements to increase profitability despite a challenging operating environment. He also assisted with the sale of the company.
  • Was interim CFO to an 80-store candy retailer.
  • Served as a financial advisor to several clients within the healthcare industry on capital bond issuances raising over a billion dollars in capital.
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Remediation Services Company

SITUATION

  • A non-integrated business unit of a leading national one-stop provider of demolition and environmental remediation services embarked on multiple large unsuccessful projects generating material operating losses.
  • The accelerated growth rate increased working capital, resulting in constrained liquidity and eroding lender confidence.
  • The Company initiated a process to recapitalize its balance sheet through the raising of a new credit facility.

SCP'S SOLUTION

  • SCP worked with the company to develop and execute a plan to maximize cash flow and working capital.
  • Enhanced current system, resources, and organization for forecasting and managing cash flow and working capital.
  • Met regularly with owners and lenders to engender support and manage expectations.
  • Worked closely with the investment bankers to facilitate an effective and efficient refinancing process.

RESULT

  • Stabilized lender relationship.
  • Successfully managed liquidity and working capital in order to minimize additional funding required from sponsor.
  • Provided short- and longer-term visibility regarding cash flow and working capital.
  • Successfully concluded a recapitalization of the company’s balance sheet via closing of a new credit facility.
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Confidential Remediation Services Company

SITUATION

  • A $600 million privately-held remediation services company was experiencing liquidity and operational issues resulting from a recent acquisition.
  • SCP was engaged to provide a financial assessment of the company and develop recommendations to generate cash, assess quality of internal financial reporting and working capital management, and review monthly financial forecast for reasonableness, upsides, and risks.

SCP'S SOLUTION

  • Performed a financial analysis of the company and created a 13-week cash flow forecast.
  • Assisted with the identification and execution of cash collection and cash preservation opportunities.
  • Developed weekly receipts and disbursements and a cash flow forecast based on the latest 2015 financial model.

RESULTs

  • Company implemented a weekly cash flow monitoring process to track weekly presentation of actual vs. forecast.
  • Management team brought in an additional financial resource to enhance the collections and credit process.
  • Developed a detailed action plan to enhance liquidity.
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Remediation Services Company

SITUATION

  • A non-integrated business unit of a leading national one-stop provider of demolition and environmental remediation services embarked on multiple large unsuccessful projects generating material operating losses.
  • The accelerated growth rate increased working capital, resulting in constrained liquidity and eroding lender confidence.
  • The Company initiated a process to recapitalize its balance sheet through the raising of a new credit facility.

SCP'S SOLUTION

  • SCP worked with the company to develop and execute a plan to maximize cash flow and working capital.
  • Enhanced current system, resources, and organization for forecasting and managing cash flow and working capital.
  • Met regularly with owners and lenders to engender support and manage expectations.
  • Worked closely with the investment bankers to facilitate an effective and efficient refinancing process.

RESULT

  • Stabilized lender relationship.
  • Successfully managed liquidity and working capital in order to minimize additional funding required from sponsor.
  • Provided short- and longer-term visibility regarding cash flow and working capital.
  • Successfully concluded a recapitalization of the company’s balance sheet via closing of a new credit facility.
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Confidential Remediation Services Company

SITUATION

  • A $600 million privately-held remediation services company was experiencing liquidity and operational issues resulting from a recent acquisition.
  • SCP was engaged to provide a financial assessment of the company and develop recommendations to generate cash, assess quality of internal financial reporting and working capital management, and review monthly financial forecast for reasonableness, upsides, and risks.

SCP'S SOLUTION

  • Performed a financial analysis of the company and created a 13-week cash flow forecast.
  • Assisted with the identification and execution of cash collection and cash preservation opportunities.
  • Developed weekly receipts and disbursements and a cash flow forecast based on the latest 2015 financial model.

RESULTs

  • Company implemented a weekly cash flow monitoring process to track weekly presentation of actual vs. forecast.
  • Management team brought in an additional financial resource to enhance the collections and credit process.
  • Developed a detailed action plan to enhance liquidity.