Executive Summary
### Bottom Line
Conducted a promising interview for a Controller to replace an underperforming outsourced accounting team and advanced negotiations on a complex, no-cash merger to acquire distressed assets and create a market-leading studio services platform.
### Today's Highlights
- **Strategic Merger Negotiations:** Negotiated a no-cash, tax-free asset contribution deal with HPP to acquire Coyote's distressed business, aiming to right-size and dominate the studio services sector.
- **Key Hire for Financial Control:** Interviewed a strong CPA candidate (Maria) for a Controller role to bring financial closing, asset management, and process ownership in-house.
- **Financial Process Overhaul:** Outlined the urgent need to achieve consistent 10-business-day closes and implement reliable financial schedules by replacing outdated Excel processes with new software.
- **Deal Execution Hurdle:** Identified HPP's Victor as a key negotiation obstacle due to ego and past resentment, requiring external pressure from a capital partner (ADC) to close the deal.
### Watch List
- **Merger Negotiation Risk:** HPP's Victor remains a significant blocker; the strategy to engage ADC for top-down pressure is untested and could fail.
- **Financial Distress:** Coyote's core business is losing $20M on $35M revenue, creating urgency but also extreme integration and turnaround complexity if the deal closes.
- **System Implementation:** The plan to implement a new software layer on top of QuickBooks for 6-entity consolidation is a critical dependency for the new Controller's success.