Overview of Project
Our client is a telecommunications company that was in financial distress and had no formal plan to remedy its problems. Manchester’s professionals were engaged to provide a business assessment and recommend its strategic options. The client acted upon our advice, strengthened its operations, and today is operating as a stronger company.

The Challenge
The company, a cooperative arrangement between a rural telephone co-op and a rural electrical co-op, supplies local and long distance phone service, cable television, and high-speed and dial-up Internet services in a small Minnesota city. Its financial results were below plan, its forecasted results were even bleaker, and there was not a formal plan to turnaround the company. The financial forecast indicated that the company might not have been able to adequately cover the repayment of its debt.

The Engagement
Manchester’s professionals were engaged to provide a quick, yet thorough, business assessment of the company’s finances, management, and markets to assess its business health and ability to meet its financial commitments, followed by a delineation of its strategic options including pros, cons, and implications of each option.

The Solution
Our assessment of the client’s business revealed untapped market potential and concerns about management’s abilities. Our strategic option recommendations included implementing a formal sales plan and making changes to the management team, as well as the buyout of one partner by the other.

The Impact
As a result of our assessment and identification of viable strategic options, the client strengthened its management team and implemented a sales plan to take advantage of its market opportunities. The company strengthened its financial structure by agreeing to have one partner buy out the other partner, and subsequently refinanced its debt. Today, the cooperative is operating as a stronger entity with a bright future.