Your business plan is important to us and forms the starting point of your investment application to NEL. If it looks like an eligible proposition for us we will be happy to discuss it in further detail via an initial meeting between you and one of our team.
The business plan is subject to an initial assessment by one of our executives before going in front of the wider team for a peer review. This process is internal to NEL and we will not disclose the contents of your business plan to anyone else without your permission.
As a guide, your business plan should include the following key chapters as a minimum:
- Statutory accounts covering the last 3 years
- Management accounts to bring the current financial year up to date
- Financial forecasts for the next 3 years
- Management team CVs
- SWOT analysis of the Company
- Analysis of customers, markets and competition
- History of the Company
- Breakdown of how this funding will be used.
You will be asked to sign an Engagement Letter before the process moves on to initial due diligence. This letter spells out what you can expect from us, and what we will require from you, during the investment process.
If the initial due diligence is satisfactory we will send you a “Heads of Terms” document summarising the indicative terms under which we would propose to invest in your company.
If you agree to our offer we will commence full due diligence across the disciplines of Finance, Commercial Viability and Management. This may also include Legal and Intellectual Property due diligence as necessary. It is normal procedure to carry out this work ‘in house’, but if a need arises to outsource any part, we will advise you before engaging with one of our strategic partners.
NEL will carry out an analysis of the due diligence outcome(s) before convening a final meeting of the Investment Committee whereupon a final deal structure will be agreed together with any conditions to be met prior to a completion taking place.
Legal documentation will follow the final Investment Committee meeting, and, following a Compliance Review, a completion meeting will be called. The process from submission of the business plan to formal completion should take up to 8 weeks for mezzanine type investments and up to 12 weeks for equity transactions which require legal advisors to be appointed.
Post investment, we will provide support and advice to assist the growth of your company and to maximise the return for all concerned.
