What now for Vantis?

Reports suggest that Vantis could sell off a part of its business to lower its debt burden.

Vantis won’t say it, instead suggesting it’s looking at a variety of different options.

Let’s take that as a red rag to speculate about what could happen next.

If the firm is looking to sell off part of the business, which part?

One option would be to sell by location. Sell off under-performing offices back to the partners (or directors, as Vantis is of course listed), to cut out the parts draining the coffers.

The problem with this option is it’s unlikely to generate much cash for Vantis.

So the only other option would be to go by service line.

Vantis’ Business Recovery Services (BRS) unit represents around a third of its £100m annual fee income. This service line is represented in Vantis’ accounts as separate from its Business Advisory & Tax line.

Business recovery traditionally has lots of work in progess tying up cash. This is no different with Vantis, where liquidators are still trying to gain access to assets related to Stanford International Bank.

So I’ll stick my neck out and suggest that a sale of BRS is Vantis’ most likely option to cash in from.

Let’s speculate further. Who could buy it? Well, listed recovery specialists Begbies Traynor has nearly £19m in headroom from its new credit facilities…then again, 2+2=5 sometimes.

One to watch.