Our Strategy team supports company directors and shareholders in their structuring financial decisions: acquisitions and sales of businesses, fundraising, partnerships and associations, shareholders' agreements, bank and alternative financing, business plans and financial plans, valuations, and the planning of the director's personal finances in connection with those of the business. We are involved from the first strategic question through to closing — and beyond, since our accounting and tax teams then ensure implementation.

• Acquisition support Identification and analysis of targets, financial, tax and social due diligence, valuation, transaction structuring, financing and negotiation.
• Sale or capital opening Preparation for sale, valuation, documentation, process management and negotiation through to signing.
• Financing Financial plans, bank or fundraising files, term negotiation and structuring of instruments such as equity, debt or convertibles.
• Governance Drafting and negotiation of shareholders' agreements, family pacts and mechanisms for partner entry and exit.

In a transaction, the asymmetry of experience is your first risk: the better-advised party generally obtains the best terms. The second challenge is structuring: the same operation can have very different tax and wealth consequences depending on how it is set up — and some mistakes are irreversible. The third is time: a poorly prepared process gets bogged down, exhausts the director and weakens the business, whereas a well-run process protects value and confidentiality.

We always start with your objectives — family, wealth, professional — before discussing structures. We quantify the scenarios and explain them to you without jargon, so that you remain the real decision-maker. We work as an integrated team: the M&A advisor, the tax specialist and the accountant on your file share the same information, which avoids solutions that are elegant on paper but unworkable in practice. And we stay by your side after the operation, for integration, reporting and the follow-up of the commitments made.

What does a typical engagement look like? For a sale, for instance: an initial diagnosis to objectify the value and identify what can improve it before going to market; a preparation phase — cleaned-up accounts, structured documentation, points of attention addressed before the buyer discovers them; the conduct of the process, from approaching candidates to negotiating the offers; then due diligence and the negotiation of the agreements, where each clause — warranties, earn-out, seller support, non-compete — can represent a significant part of the real price. The same methodical care applies, in mirror image, to our acquisition assignments. In both cases, you know at all times where you stand, what is being negotiated and why.

• Sales and acquisitions of SMEs
• Liberal and medical-profession practices
• Fundraising for start-ups and scale-ups
• Holdings and group reorganisations
• Shareholders' agreements
• Partner situation resolution
• Acquisition financing
• Financial plans for creation and growth
• Family transfers with Wealth Management

• Prepared negotiation: You enter discussions documented, advised and ready.
• Avoided pitfalls: You reduce the structuring mistakes that can come back years later.
• Time saved: A structured process protects value and accelerates the work.
• Experienced judgement: You test important decisions against advisors who have already lived through these situations many times.

Catalyst was born from a partnership of entrepreneurs: our partners have themselves created, developed, financed and merged businesses, including our own. We have supported acquisitions of industrial companies whose turnover was subsequently multiplied, fundraising rounds closed in a few months, acquisitions of stakes in dental practices, and the creation of medical centres. This dual experience — that of the advisor and that of the entrepreneur — makes the difference when a real decision has to be made.