A UK consumables brand entered the programme with an indicative 2.6x SDE valuation. Twenty-two months later it completed at 4.1x.
A profitable consumables brand whose founder wanted out within two years. Broker soundings suggested 2.6x SDE — solid business, priced down for risk.
That the discount was “the market” and the only lever was waiting for better conditions.
The discount was specific, not general: the hero ASIN carried 62% of revenue, financials were cash-basis with undocumented add-backs, one supplier produced everything, and there was no operational documentation a buyer could inherit.
A buyer’s-eye valuation bridge: what each risk was costing in multiple terms, and what each fix was worth — so every quarter of work had a number attached.
A sequenced 22-month plan: accrual conversion and add-back evidence first; then concentration work — two launches and a variation strategy to dilute the hero ASIN; second-supplier qualification; and a documentation sprint building the data room before any buyer asked.
Quarterly checkpoints against the bridge. Hero-ASIN share fell from 62% to 24%; clean accrual P&L delivered; SOPs and supplier terms documented; broker selected via competitive process in month 18.
Completion at 4.1x SDE — a 58% uplift on the entry valuation of the same underlying business, measured at signing against the original broker indication.
The valuation staircase: each step is a named de-risking workstream, priced on the buyer’s bridge.
Concentration de-risked: the single largest driver of the multiple uplift.
Verification & disclaimer. Entry valuation per the original broker indication in writing; outcome per the signed completion statement. Client identity withheld under NDA. All figures are drawn from the specific engagement described; results are client-specific, depend on implementation, and are not a promise or guarantee of outcome for any other business.
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