case study
Turnaround and grow acquisitions in Europe
THE CLIENT
Global TeleSystems (GTS). NASDAQ quoted company. European telecom service provider offering voice and data services in 12 countries across Europe. Revenue €400m.
THE CHALLENGE
GTS grew rapidly through acquisition with the opening up of the telecoms market in Europe. However, some acquisitions failed to meet expectations of performance.
The Board required someone:
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To rapidly turnaround and grow individual country organizations in Belgium, France, Denmark and Ireland as Managing Director, with full P&L responsibility.
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To integrate multiple acquisitions with the operations and business model of the parent.
THE SOLUTION
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Turnaround of the Belgian subsidiary to resolve a crisis situation following a ‘palace coup’ –implemented a cultural change programme refocusing on the business outcomes and clarified roles to calm down emotions; targeted the 10 sales people on customers and results.
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Integrated the Danish business – urgently reviewed the problems and opportunities with the local management team following the dismissal of the previous Managing Director (MD); resolved disputes, feuds and a 3-month billing backlog. Refocused the sales team on the profitable B2B data offering for the SME sector and away from the more competitive me-too voice offer.
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Turnaround of Irish acquisition following the dismissal of the previous MD as a result of consistent loss of control of costs – reduced fixed overheads from 34% to 28% within 5 months, cut headcount from 76 to 48, disposed of loss making services, focused the sales team on the data offering.
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In each country operation:
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Agreed an effective business plan with the Board and local teams, and implemented it.
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Refocused on profitable offerings.
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Agreed area sales plans with 10 to 76 sales people with weekly traffic-light report on performance versus target.
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Rewarded high performers, managed the low performers.
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THE RESULTS
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Grew the Belgian business by 25% over 12 months following 2 years of stagnation, where the two previous MDs had repeatedly failed to control or grow the business.
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In Denmark, fast-tracked the implementation to rapidly increase sales by more than 25%.
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Returned the Irish business to pre-acquisition profitability while continuing to grow.
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Integrated the two operations in France, following an additional French acquisition, and transitioned the new MD.
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Appointed VP of European Sales & Business Operations as part of the programme to restructure and separate the Business Services Division from the parent company – increased sales by 10% and turnaround from major losses to break-even.
“When a country subsidiary was at risk or going out of control, I could send in Mike Kemball as my trouble-shooter. He always resolved the situation quickly, won over the local teams and delivered the required results.”
Jean-Pierre Vandromme, Chief Executive Officer of Business Services Division (Ventelo)