Consulting
A practice for owners deciding what the configuration of their business should be: structuring companies and groups, tax planning, risk assessment, support for management decisions and investment projects. Work on the business model as a whole, not on an isolated question.
Why businesses choose this PROCTOR practice
A management decision is rarely only a management decision. A change in the ownership structure, the exit of a partner, the purchase of an asset or the launch of a new line of business all change, at the same time, the tax burden, the liability of directors and the way the business will look to a bank, an investor and the supervisory authorities.
That is why consulting at PROCTOR grew out of the legal practice rather than alongside it. We calculate the consequences of a decision before it is taken and set them out in figures, not in abstract warnings.
Specialists from the tax, corporate and litigation practices are involved in every project. A team of this composition can see the business model in full: how it works on an ordinary day, what it costs in tax and what will happen to it during an audit, a dispute between owners or a sale of the company.
For an owner this means a decision taken with a full understanding of its price and its consequences, rather than on the principle of "let us try it and sort the rest out later".
Structuring businesses and groups of companies
Building an ownership structure that fits what the business actually needs: allocation of assets between legal entities, choice of corporate form, the place of the holding company, flows inside the group. We separately assess how the structure will withstand a tax audit, a conflict between co-owners and a future sale of a shareholding.
Tax planning
Lawful reduction of the tax burden of a group: choice of taxation regime, the model for settlements between related parties, dividend policy, the use of double taxation treaties. Every decision is tested against the transfer pricing and controlled foreign company rules.
Risk assessment
Diagnosis of the business model before the supervisory authorities take an interest in it: the contractual base, document flow, the reality of transactions, weak points in relations with counterparties. The result is a risk map with priorities and a plan for removing them.
Support for management decisions
Legal support for the decisions that change a business: the exit of a partner, bringing in an investor, launching or closing a line of business, reorganisation, a change of management. We prepare several scenarios with the consequences of each one calculated, and see the chosen scenario through to the end.
Support for investment projects
Work on a project from concept to launch: checking the asset and the partner, structuring the contribution and the exit, permitting matters, the contractual model of financing. The interests of the investor are protected at every stage, including the scenario in which the project does not work out.
How we run a consulting project
Every project starts with a review of the current business model and ends with a decision carried through to the end.
01
Review of the current model
We map how the business is arranged today: legal entities, flows inside the group, the contractual base, the tax burden. The output is a description of the model we work from.
02
The task of the owner
We establish what the owner wants to achieve: the exit of a partner, bringing in an investor, a sale of a shareholding, a lower tax burden. Constraints and deadlines are fixed.
03
Scenarios and their consequences
We prepare several options and calculate the price of each: tax, the liability of directors, and the way the structure will look to a bank and to the supervisory authorities.
04
Choosing the decision
We go through the scenarios with the owner and show the weak point of each. Together we choose the one that will withstand an audit, a conflict between co-owners and a future sale.
05
Implementing the change
We draft the documents of the chosen scenario: corporate resolutions, contracts inside the group, changes in the registers. We stay with it until the new model works.
Formats of consulting support
The scope depends on whether the owner is settling one question or rebuilding the business as a whole.
Advice on a single question
A review of one decision: the exit of a partner, a new legal entity, a change of taxation regime. A written opinion setting out the options and the consequences of each.
Structuring project
Full work on one task: diagnosis, scenarios, choice and implementation. The client receives a new ownership structure with the package of documents ready.
Standing adviser to the owner
The team works with the business model continuously: every new decision has its consequences calculated, and the structure is revisited as the law and the plans of the group change.