Executive Summary: End-to-End Transaction Advisory and Fundraising Readiness

What was the challenge? A cross-border life sciences and regulated wellness products group was preparing for its first institutional fund raise of approximately ₹20 crore, structured in tranches. The group was pre-revenue and operated through three entities across three jurisdictions. It needed an integrated financial framework covering consolidation, working capital, product-level economics, valuation, funding requirements and investor-facing documentation. The existing financial information did not provide a sufficiently integrated basis for the proposed transaction.

What service did the firm provide? APCALLP provided integrated transaction advisory covering a 60-month, formula-driven consolidated financial model, intercompany consolidation, working capital and cash runway analysis, unit economics across 33 SKUs, two valuation approaches, sensitivity and scenario analysis, an investor pitch-deck refresh and review of the draft term sheet.

What was the result? The engagement resulted in a consolidated financial framework in which the model, valuation and investor-facing materials were linked to a common set of assumptions. The final workbook contained more than 24,000 formula cells with no broken references or computed errors, while the financial model incorporated balance-sheet, cash-flow and consolidation checks across the 60-month period.

Client Overview: A Pre-Revenue Life Sciences Group Across Three Jurisdictions

  • Business Type: Cross-border life sciences and regulated wellness products group
  • Location: Operations across three jurisdictions
  • Industry: Life sciences and regulated wellness products
  • Business Activity: A holding company owning intellectual property and group licences, a European entity responsible for manufacturing and quality-assured supply, and an Indian entity undertaking distribution, clinical and regulatory activities in the domestic market. The group was pre-revenue, with a catalogue of 33 SKUs across three regulatory routes.
  • Problem Summary: No integrated financial framework to support the group's first institutional fund raise. Key issues included cross-entity transactions, pre-revenue cash requirements, untested product-level economics, and a valuation and draft term-sheet structure that required reconciliation.

The Challenge: Four Interconnected Fundraising Issues

The investment readiness advisory engagement required four interconnected issues to be addressed:

  • Complex group structure: Goods moved from the European manufacturing entity to the Indian distributor at a transfer price, while the Indian entity paid royalties to the holding company. The consolidated model therefore needed to eliminate intercompany flows while retaining standalone entity-level information.
  • Pre-revenue working capital and funding requirements: Inventory had to be purchased and shipped before initial sales, while salaries and other operating costs commenced from the outset. Funding was expected in tranches, creating a period of heightened cash requirements before revenue generation.
  • Unvalidated product economics: The 33-product catalogue had not previously been tested at unit level. The analysis needed to determine product-level economics after considering landed cost, duty, freight, testing and selling costs.
  • Valuation and transaction structure: The valuation in circulation did not have a documented methodology, while the draft term sheet contained a valuation basis and equity split that required reconciliation with the proposed tranche pricing.

Our Investment Readiness Advisory Approach

The engagement was executed sequentially, with each stage building on the preceding verified output, combining formula-driven financial modelling with end-to-end transaction support:

  • Built the financial model first: All assumptions were centralised on an input sheet, with downstream calculations formula-driven rather than manually entered.
  • Established accounting integrity: The balance sheet, cash flow and consolidation relationships were tested before adding commercial analysis.
  • Added the commercial layer: Unit economics, working capital behaviour and the funding schedule were modelled using the verified financial base.
  • Derived valuation from the model: Discounted cash flow (DCF) and venture capital method valuations were constructed as live schedules linked to the annual financial statements.
  • Applied sensitivity and scenario analysis: Key drivers could be flexed and the resulting effects on the model, cash position and balance sheet observed.
  • Prepared investor-facing documentation: The pitch deck was refreshed and the draft term sheet reviewed against the underlying financial and transaction logic.
  • Escalated specialist legal matters appropriately: Issues involving cross-border capital rules and enforceability were documented and referred to specialist counsel rather than incorporated as accounting conclusions.

Key Strategies Implemented

Single Source of Truth

A central input sheet was used for the key assumptions, allowing downstream financial statements, valuation and analysis to respond consistently when assumptions changed.

Built-In Financial Checks

The model incorporated checks for balance-sheet balancing, cash-flow-to-balance-sheet consistency and consolidated-versus-standalone profit reconciliation. These checks were required to hold across all 60 months before further analysis was added.

Product-Level Margin Analysis

Where a product was identified as loss making, the proposed remediation focused on production cost rather than increasing the selling price, with the stated objective of addressing the cost structure while preserving the existing market positioning.

Funding Tranche Alignment

The funding schedule was aligned with the projected cash curve so that the second tranche was scheduled before the period of maximum projected cash strain.

Independent Valuation Methods

DCF and venture capital method valuations were prepared independently to provide a valuation range based on separate methodologies rather than relying on a single asserted figure.

Early Identification of Legal Issues

Issues relating to cross-border capital rules and enforceability were identified within the transaction process and referred to specialist counsel for appropriate legal consideration.

Outcome: An Integrated Framework for the First Institutional Raise

The engagement moved the group from a collection of underlying assumptions and separate transaction materials to an integrated financial framework supporting the proposed institutional fund raise. The final workbook contained more than 24,000 formula cells, with no broken references or computed errors reported in the source document.

As a result of the investment readiness advisory work, the framework provided:

  • A 60-month consolidated financial model across three operating jurisdictions.
  • Integrated intercompany eliminations.
  • Product-level unit economics across 33 SKUs.
  • Working capital and cash runway analysis.
  • Funding tranche analysis aligned with projected cash requirements.
  • DCF and venture capital method valuation outputs.
  • Sensitivity and scenario analysis.
  • Investor-facing materials linked to the underlying financial workings.
  • A documented basis for addressing key investor questions concerning unit economics, downside scenarios and valuation methodology.

A companion case study looks in detail at how the underlying 60-month, 20-sheet financial model was engineered.

Conclusion: Why Investment Readiness Advisory Connects the Whole Transaction

The engagement established an integrated financial framework for a cross-border life sciences group preparing for its first institutional fund raise. Rather than treating financial modelling, valuation, fundraising materials and transaction documentation as independent deliverables, the work connected them through a common underlying model.

This enabled changes in assumptions to flow through the relevant financial outputs and provided a structured basis for investor discussions. Designed as a living financial model rather than a static transaction document, the framework lets the group update assumptions while keeping its financial statements, valuation and investor materials consistent. That joined-up view is what effective investment readiness advisory delivers.

Preparing for Your First Institutional Raise?

APCALLP offers investment readiness services and fund raising assistance for growing companies, from offices in Kochi, Kozhikode and Bengaluru. Speak to our team about your transaction.