Property & Infrastructure
Property operating businesses, maintenance and facilities services, construction support and infrastructure services.
The commercial picture
Our focus in property is the operating business rather than the asset: maintenance contractors, facilities providers, construction support services and specialist infrastructure suppliers.
These businesses are valued on contract backlog, margin discipline and the ability to price risk properly on fixed-price work. Working capital and retention balances often matter more to the deal than the reported profit.
What owners and investors are dealing with
- Fixed-price contracts entered before cost inflation
- Retentions and slow payment tying up working capital
- Subcontractor availability, quality and compliance
- Health, safety and accreditation requirements
- Backlog quality and the pipeline behind it
- Plant, vehicle and equipment financing
How we help
Advisory
- Contract and backlog analysis
- Working capital and retention review
- Margin and job costing assessment
- Indicative valuation
Transactions
- Acquisition screening and diligence
- Contract novation and change-of-control review
- Deal structure and deferred consideration
- Integration planning
Growth
- Job costing and estimating discipline
- Client and framework diversification
- Supplier and subcontractor management
- Management reporting
Transaction and investment themes
- Maintenance and facilities businesses with long framework contracts attracting interest
- Buyers scrutinising retention balances and contract disputes closely
- Consolidation of specialist trades into multi-service providers
- Owner-managed contractors selling as compliance and accreditation costs rise
- Infrastructure-linked service businesses supported by public spending programmes
Illustrative scenario
A maintenance contractor with a strong framework position but weak job costing is considering a partial sale. Crystal Zest analyses contract-level margin, quantifies retentions and working capital, tests the backlog and pipeline, prepares an indicative valuation range, and sets out the reporting improvements that would most improve a buyer's confidence.
Illustrative
The scenario above describes the type of engagement Crystal Zest is designed to undertake. It is not a completed Crystal Zest transaction.
Start a confidential conversation
Whether you are preparing to sell, looking to acquire, raising capital or trying to lift the value of a business you already own, the first step is a short, confidential discussion about the situation.