Transition Advisory Partners 

I have a passion for helping people, building value for clients, working collaboratively with others and supporting charitable causes that I believe in.
I look to combine these passions into the business of Transition Advisory Partners (www.tapartners.ca). My primary objective is to assist business owners to grow their businesses with cost-effective and timely advice on such areas as capital structure, acquisition and integration strategies and transaction readiness. For some, this advice will prepare a business for a transition to new owners, whether they be management, children our new owners altogether.
I bring more than 25 years of expertise to Transition Advisory Partners. This includes 15 years leading M&A practices in Vancouver and Hong Kong, 7 years of running business as CEO/Managing Director and 3 years in corporate strategy consulting. Literally a 'world' of experience!
I can't wait to bring these experiences to bear in assisting business owners, their families, management teams and other stakeholders to build value for themselves.

Why "Transition Advisors"? Because there is a paradigm shift in value when entrepreneurial business transition to corporate-style entities. Not only does this create real enterprise value, it frees up the business owner to focus on strategic growth initiatives that can generate long-term wealth. Transition can also refer to a change in capital structure that provides increased flexibility over investing decisions and, of course, a transition of ownership to a new generation or to a new owner altogether.
In addition to the skills and experience I bring to Transition Advisors, I have developed collaborative relationships with complementary service providers throughout Canada. These include specialist tax, accounting and legal professionals, family business counselors and others.

Founder and Managing Partner

BizTransitionCoach.com

My on-line course is now LIVE and can be found here: https://ian-smith.mastermind.com/masterminds/21907. It provides business owners to create huge value in their companies well before they actually transition the business to new owners. The courses focus on changing your role in the business from an Operator to an Owner, while reducing the perception of business risk in the eyes of potential suitors.  Check-out the intro video here: https://vimeo.com/690250962.

Head Coach

Ernst & Young Orenda Corporate Finance Inc.

My team and I assisted entrepreneurs of private mid-market companies to create exceptional value for themselves and their stakeholders. We do this by helping raise expansion capital, develop and execute acquisition strategies and in putting in place and driving transition plans through to successful completion. 
As an entrepreneur at heart - and in past practice - I derive great satisfaction from helping individual business owners, their families, employees and other partners to work through the myriad of challenges they face in corporate finance matters. Applying my knowledge and experience, personal and corporate network and insights to client issues is where I bring a unique value proposition.

Vice President

Boat Centre, The

Transitioned from silent partner to directly overseeing all aspects of the day to day operations of the yacht dealership, retail store and service divisions of the business. Arranged $2m floor plan financing with commercial lender for new and used boat inventory, liaised with suppliers and creditors, sold boats and yachts from $2,000 to $1m in value.

Principal

Grant Thornton Corporate Finance

Moved to Vancouver in early 2007 and led development of corporate finance practice area within the Canadian partnership. Hired and developed a team of professionals from both within and outside the organization to focus on mid-market mergers and acquisitions and led several successful transactions in Canada.

Director

Oversaw the development and growth of Grant Thornton’s mergers and acquisition practice in Asia and led numerous cross border transactions with buy-side clients. Represented Asia as the founding member of Grant Thornton’s global M&A advisory council.  Established successful framework for development of a global M&A advisory practice with varying skill levels and disparate National partnerships.

Looks.com Ltd.

Established the world’s first on-line duty free retailer, looks.com. Based in Hong Kong, the company represented approximately 20 retail brands of cosmetics, fragrances and accessories from the US, Europe and Japan.  Initial funding was provided by AOL China, China.com, Webtrends and private investors. The company was the first on-line retailer in Hong Kong to allow real time credit card processing and fully-integrated logistics back-office which was subsequently replicated by numerous other organizations in other retail segments. The company was eventually sold to a traditional retailer, as their on-line division.

Principal/Director

First Eastern Investment Co.

Worked with a team of investment professionals to invest, monitor and divest/merge or restructure a portfolio of private equity investments in China. Based in Hong Kong, First Eastern was the preeminent private equity investor in China at the time, with some 55 direct ownership positions and US$750m invested in a wide range of industries across the country. The role also entailed direct involvement in the establishment of a new $50m private equity fund focused on SE Asia during the Asian Financial Crisis of 1999 and 2000.

Associate Director

Imperial Parking (Asia) Ltd.

First employee hired by Imperial Parking Inc. to oversee start-up of Asian operations in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea. Oversaw the negotiations with landlords in each market and the marketing and development of the business. Worked closely with joint venture partners and was directly involved in negotiations with the Shanghai City government for the development of a large underground parking structure at a key train station in the City. Developed highly profitable business within two years of start-up and was even recognized by the Mayor of the City of Taipei as the “Parking King” of the city.

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