Former EQ CEO to Launch Investment Consultancy

Former EQ Chief Executive Bob Bond is planning to kick off the new year with the launch of a new consultancy Ganbatte Capital, providing investment and consultancy services to media, technology and marketing services firms both in the UK and US.

Bond told DRNO that once he leaves EQ in mid-December, he plans to more-or-less repeat the model he created with the firm - which he founded, floated and then sold to Optimisa last month, with an enterprise value of £12.4 million (www.mrweb.com/drno/news7443.htm ).

During his tenure at EQ, Bond raised £25 million of acquisition finance, reviewed more than 600 acquisition targets, bought five businesses, and sold two. He believes the resulting combination of acquisition and operational experience is rare, and says he intends to capitalise on his background to negotiate future acquisitions and sell his expertise in a consultancy capacity.

The firm will focus on four activities: providing or raising capital, operational support and direction, growth through acquisition and value realisation.

In accordance with an agreement he has reached with Optimisa, Bond will not approach 'traditional' market research companies for the first twelve months of trading. However, he will be looking at companies on the periphery of the industry such as those conducting blog analysis or data analytics.

Explaining that it is uncommon for start-up investment business to have a 'war chest' at their disposal, Bond said that he will be using his own capital to invest in new projects and will be calling on existing relationships with banks and investment houses to fund acquisitions of less than £1 million to upwards of £30 million.

'Ganbatte will provide a blend of operational expertise and financial acumen that is generally not seen amongst investors or advisors within our target markets. We will help ambitious teams make big decisions, execute plans with rigour and achieve sustainable growth,' he added.

In Japanese, Ganbatte means to 'hold out', 'persevere' or 'do your best'; Bond says that all these terms capture the philosophy of his new business.