Euroflow manufactures chromatography columns. Chromatography is a chemical process used throughout the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries to separate materials at the molecular level. It enables one molecule (the target) to be collected and other molecules to be discarded.
When we first met the management team of Euroflow we felt that they had some remarkable intellectual property that would radically change the industry. There were however significant weaknesses in the team that had to be addressed before funding could proceed.
Catalyst’s Role
Euroflow had already developed a very good business plan however the team was very small and lacked experience at managing fast growth. Our role was to: evaluate the best way to strengthen the management team to attract investment;define a corporate finance strategy, and raise the funding required. This involved:
Analysing the key functionality of the business;
Defining the profile of the individuals required;
Helping to recruit key individuals
Marketing the business to potential investors.
Result
We had a wide range of discussions with investors and finally chose to proceed with the UK investment arm of a French Bank. The deal was negotiated and due diligence, completed and approved when the 9/11 terrorist attack occurred. The deal was pulled by the bank two weeks after the attack. The bank had decided to withdraw completely from all private equity and venture capital activity.
We had to dust ourselves down and start all over again. The climate for investment had suddenly become cold and none of the original investors were interested in proceeding further. We decided to change tack and approach strategic investors after extensive research and marketing we closed a deal with the Pall Corporation a major player in the same market space who invested £2.5 million into the company and provided a key strategic relationship. Pall has since bought Euroflow from the founders.
