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Michael Yarmo, Management Consulting Expert in Toronto, ON, Canada
Michael Yarmo

Management Consulting Expert in Toronto, ON, Canada

Member since May 16, 2017
As an experienced investment banker, Mike has led the M&A, raised capital, and balance sheet restructuring of dozens of mid-sized North American-based companies. Mike is currently a Managing Partner at a mid-market investment bank with offices in New York and Toronto, Canada. Before his investment banking career, Mike was the president and majority owner of a multi-million dollar frozen foods manufacturer sold to a competitor after doubling the revenue and asset base.
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Career Highlights

Education

Case studies

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Industry Expertise

  • Agriculture
  • Consumer Services
  • Finance
  • Investment Banking
  • Gambling & Gaming
  • Manufacturing
  • Food & Beverage
  • Medical Devices & Equipment

Other Expertise

Employment

  • Managing Director

    2018 - PRESENT
    Clariti Strategic Advisors
    • Improved cash flow. The client faced rising in input costs, causing negative EBITDA and revolver loan to be closed. Found opportunities to take significant price increases with minimal impact to sales quantities after the business review.
    • Led client creditor negotiations for a client who broke debt covenants facing a senior creditor looking to call the loan. Demonstrated that calling the loan would yield pennies on the dollar in bankruptcy proceedings.
    • Renegotiated a payment settlement successfully for a client with a $5 million liability to the IRS and state, keeping the business out of bankruptcy.
    • Restructured balance sheets. The client was to refinance senior debt in 18 mos. A springer in loan documents allows the creditor to call the loan early if new debt is not secured by EOY.
    • Worked with the creditor on extension, as enacting springer would have forced chapter 11.
    • Helped raise capital by going to private markets to place sub notes with accredited investors. Created an additional liquidity runway, allowing the client to stay compliant. Client had a high leverage ratio and was unable to refinance senior loans.
    • Performed a corporate carve-out for the client, a diversified retailer with 12 months of positive net liquidity remaining with an underperforming furniture division.
    • Found buyers who would benefit from the real estate and buying power to take the division as a going concern.
    Focus areas: Budgeting, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Balance Sheet Optimization, Cost Reduction & Optimization, Cash Flow Modeling, Pricing, Operational Efficiency Improvement, Turnaround Management, Financial Restructuring, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Gross Profit Margin Growth, Consumer Products, Investment Capital Raising, Debt Financing

  • President & Majority Owner

    2013 - 2017
    VanMar Sales & Marketing
    • Built a team of 3 investors to acquire an underperforming food distribution company. Led the acquisition team to initiate an LOI, negotiated the sale of the purchase agreement, and ran the due diligence within six months after signing an NDA.
    • Refocused the product mix from low-margin baking goods (e.g., flour, sugar) to higher-margin/less competitive frozen foods. Built out large industrial freezers, developed relationships with new suppliers, and found new sales channels.
    • Increased GM by 2% during a price war between SYSCO/GFS by negotiating for rebates, pursuing truckload buys, increasing prices while improving rigorously-measured service levels, changing the product mix, and negotiating better A/P terms.
    • Achieved $2+ million in sales by executing a new sales strategy. Implemented a frozen food pivot, personally cold-called chefs, and hired new sales staff. Focused on adding new customers located on existing routes to increase capacity.
    • Developed a strict 20-, 30-, and 40-day collection policy managed by the inside sales manager, who spoke to customers daily. Before, a very lax A/R collection policy put strains on its cash position and prevented truckload buys.
    • Reduced overall expenses by 15% through lease contract renegotiation, preventative care on the truck/freezer, and upgraded inventory system, improving the efficiency of the warehouse.
    Focus areas: Cost Reduction & Optimization, Cash Flow Forecasting, Strategic Planning & Execution, Price Analysis, Equity Financing, Budgeting, Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A), Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Investment Capital Raising, Debt Financing, Turnaround Management

  • Senior Manager, Pricing Strategy

    2011 - 2013
    ConAgra Foods
    • Converted ConAgra from its "cost + margin" to a "Price to Value" pricing policy, bringing more data analysis in order to capture more consumer surplus being generated by marketing, in-store merchandising, and new products.
    • Led open communication with Walmart, Costco, Target, and other major retailers regarding ConAgra's pricing/promotion activities with theentire market. Proactively informing Target of what ConAgra was running in the future with Walmart allowed us to develop strong programs with Target (and vice versa), thus strengthening supplier/retailer relationships.
    • Built models and partnered with Neilsen to get real-time data on customer patterns when products were discounted at Walmart. The goal was to see what worked (e.g., 50% off, 2 for $3, in weekend flyers, buy space outside of aisle) and what retailers to invest in (Walmart growing quickly, Safeway declining market share).
    • Developed pricing ladders to see where market opportunities existed and to meet consumer demand (single beer cans to encourage sampling vs. 12 pack to reward loyal buyers with a price discount). For example, "to-go-snacks" in the $0.99 range were very popular at gas stations. ConAgra had no products to meet this consumer need, so we developed pack sizes to sell to this consumer/retail channel.
    • Led price increase inputs into the budget and had to develop new ideas when volume fell short or costs exceeded expectations. ConAgra would rely on pricing actions (price increase or better ROI for promotional activities) to meet shortfalls in actual vs. budget performance.
    Focus areas: Unit Pricing, Revenue Optimization, Financial Management, Market Research, Customer Lifetime Value, Profit & Loss (P&L), Discounted Cash Flow (DCF), Budgeting, Price Analysis, Gross Profit Margin Growth, Consumer Products, Pricing

Other Experience

  • Meal Kit Industry Blues: How Can Blue Apron Lift Its Malaise? (Publication)
    https://www.toptal.com/finance/pricing-consultants/meal-kit-industry
    In the past five years, Blue Apron has brought meal kits to the masses and commands a 40% market share in the USA. Yet all is not rosy; its financial losses have continually accelerated and it has ceded 17% of its market share in the past year. Amazon buying Whole Foods on the eve of its 2017 IPO could have just been bad luck, or prescient signs of what’s to come for Blue Apron. This article looks at ways that the business can get its house in order and win back the Millennial kitchen.

Education

  • Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) in Finance
    2007 - 2010
    CFA Institution - Toronto, Canada
  • Bachelor's Degree in Finance
    2000 - 2005
    University of Toronto - Toronto, Canada

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