“This case study covers a client’s journey in the retail industry. We have chosen not to mention their names or business for confidentiality reasons.”
This case study is extremely unusual in that there were 2 owners of a successful retail outlet involving a senior and junior owner. Although there is no such legal process recording seniority – it was purely philosophical, and this occurs in partnerships a lot!
As we had always managed the accounting for the business via the senior partner, we had never spoken to the “junior” owner but one day he rang me saying he had received a winding up notice for the business, which of course was a complete shock, and extremely serious.
What transpired was a criminal prosecution of the senior partner for circumstances he had not shared with anyone, and as a result the business funding had been lost and the ‘winding up’ order for the business issued.
The issues faced by the retail business were significant.
- Liquidation
- Loss of Significant Revenue
- Owner’s relationship termination.
- Negotiation with Government agency over mandatory breaches.
Our role was to expedite:
- Deal with the litigious threat to liquidate the business
- Resolve the unfolding partner conflict
- Organise the sale/purchase of the business
- Review the business reporting which had grossly overstated income
- Transition the business from a corporate partnership to sole ownership
- Assist the partner litigate the prosecutions.
It is rare to find circumstances such as these, however the final outcome was equitable and achieved the maximum wealth extraction for all parties.
