This leading food company has pursued a series of transformative strategic transactions over three years. The lead bankers on these transactions engaged Gargiulo + Partners to serve as communications advisor to the company's management, as they cemented the company's leadership in packaged food worldwide and deepened its penetration in key markets.

Over multiple years and transactions, we have advised on a range of materials for a range of audiences: target-company presentations and letters; press releases; investor and analyst presentations; scripts and rehearsals for management presentations; Q&As; and financing memoranda for banks. Our work with the company and its bankers has encompassed everything from top-level advice on messaging and tone, to granular copy-editing of discrete documents.

The company successfully executed two major, cross-border acquisitions, the most recent of which was approved by its Board and announced to the markets. The communications and materials were well-received by the markets; and the company, through its bankers, has continued to solicit our advice on a range of issues.

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The owners and management of this growing media-services company were seeking to sell the business to another industry participant or a private equity firm. Privately held for a quarter-century at the time, the company had never gone before potential buyers, and the management team had a nuanced story to tell in a rapidly evolving media space. While they were skilled at presenting the benefits of the company's products and services to potential customers, refocusing the story to appeal to prospective buyers was proving challenging.

The company's chief executive engaged Gargiulo + Partners to help management prepare for its presentations to shortlisted buyers. Working hand-in-hand with the investment bankers hired to advise on the sale, we reshaped the message to focus on sources of value in the business model: the company's industry-leading position, its difficult-to-replicate assets, and its detailed strategy for capturing growth in the sector – a strategy that was already showing strong results.

We led a total rewrite of the management presentations, including an all-new set of speaker notes, and rehearsed the team extensively. This included both private, one-on-one coaching of individual members of the executive team and large-group run-throughs with the bankers present, including rehearsing a range of Q-and-A topics.

The company received several attractive bids that were higher than the preliminary indications of interest submitted by the prospective buyers.

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This second-tier beverages company found itself catapulted into a category-leading position after it acquired a large portfolio of premier brands from the industry-leading competitor. For all practical purposes, the transaction had reinvented the company. Gargiulo + Partners joined with a global PR firm to study the optimum positioning and communications for the "new" company.

We analyzed internal and external views of the combined company, interviewing management, employees, media outlets, and numerous external constituencies. The analysis revealed post-acquisition communications challenges, including a significant gap between internal and external images of the company.

We recommended several communications initiatives, each with multiple phases. Our recommendations sought to reinforce the positive expectations of external audiences, while instilling a similar level of confidence in employees. The recommendations included a name change; a new brand positioning that married the entrepreneurial values of the heritage company with the power and strength of the new brands; and a comprehensive corporate communications plan.

Management accepted all of our recommendations and is using the new positioning statement to guide external and internal communications.

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