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Turnex · Private turnaround

Some rescues make headlines. Ours make balance sheets.

We place senior, high-agency operators inside South African businesses in distress and back them with our own capital. We stabilise, restructure and stay invested in the result. Very few people ever know we were there.

Request a briefing How we work
Response
Within 24 hours
Assessment
72 hours
Deployment
Operators and capital
Publicity
None

01 · The principal

A note from the principal

I once had lunch in Johannesburg with a man who ran a distribution business: four warehouses, six hundred people, his name on the side of every truck. Sharp man. His board agreed with everything he said. Not one of them had told him the company had nine weeks of cash left.

Businesses rarely die in a single moment. They die in meetings, among people too polite to say anything. By the time the phone rings, the problem is no longer the problem. The problem is time. And time is bought with cash.

“Advice without capital is a lecture. Capital without operators is a donation. Put them in the same room and you have a turnaround.”

So, briefly. Within seventy-two hours we’ll tell you exactly where you stand. If the numbers work, our people go in and our capital goes in beside them, as a shareholder with as much to lose as you.

From then on, we’re partners. Quiet ones. Nobody needs to know we were there.

— The principal

02 · The unit

A small unit of high-agency operators

No consultants and no juniors. Every operator has built, run or rescued a business with their own name on the line, and acts without waiting to be told. They deploy together and stay until the objective is met. That’s why we take on a limited number of projects every year.

  1. Command

    Strategy and leadership

    Sets the objective and owns the plan. Makes the decisions no one inside the business is in a position to make.

    Called in when
    Nobody agrees on what’s actually wrong.

  2. Intelligence

    Finance and forensics

    Forensic finance. Traces every rand in and out, models the scenarios and finds the cash that audits missed.

    Called in when
    The runway is measured in weeks.

  3. Capital

    Investment and structuring

    Structures and deploys Turnex capital: bridge funding, working capital, creditor settlements and equity.

    Called in when
    The business is sound and out of cash.

  4. Negotiation

    Lenders and creditors

    Lenders, landlords, creditors and buyers. Enters difficult rooms with leverage and leaves with agreement.

    Called in when
    The formal letters have started.

  5. Legal

    Restructuring law

    Restructuring and insolvency counsel. Business rescue, creditor compromises, security and contracts. Knows which clauses will hold, which won’t, and how to keep directors protected throughout.

    Called in when
    Business rescue is on the table, or should be.

  6. Ground operations

    Operations and people

    On site from the first day: staff, tenants, suppliers and stock. Keeps the business trading while the rest of the unit works.

    Called in when
    Leadership has left, or needs to.

03 · People and capital

People and capital, deployed together

Turnaround firms bring people. Funds bring money. We bring both, so the plan and the means to carry it out arrive at the same time.

People

On site
  • Interim leadership in CEO, CFO and COO roles
  • Operators managing cash, stock, staff and suppliers
  • Negotiators for lenders, landlords and creditor groups
  • Delivery teams for stalled builds and developments

In the building within days. Measured on results, not hours.

Capital

On balance sheet
  • Bridge and working capital to stop the losses
  • Funding for creditor settlements and debt restructuring
  • Equity to recapitalise a business worth keeping
  • Acquisition of distressed assets and businesses

Committed once the 72-hour assessment supports it, usually in exchange for a stake. Structured to the situation, not to a template.

People + capital = control

Advice doesn’t pay salaries, and money on its own doesn’t repair a business. When the team that writes the plan also funds it, decisions take hours rather than board cycles, and every rand deployed has someone accountable for it.

04 · Method

From first call to partnership

Six phases, in order, with nothing skipped. We move quickly and say very little.

  1. 01 Hour 0

    Contact

    You speak to a principal directly. A mutual NDA is signed before anything sensitive is shared.

  2. 02 72 hours

    Assessment

    Cash, contracts, people and property. We establish the real position and give you our view in person.

  3. 03 Week 1

    Control

    The team goes in. Cash control comes first, then creditors, then everything else.

  4. 04 Weeks 2–6

    Stabilisation

    Capital goes in where it’s justified. Lenders, landlords and suppliers are given a reason to stay.

  5. 05 Months 2–6

    Turnaround

    Fix what’s broken, exit what isn’t working and invest in what is.

  6. 06 Month 6 onwards

    Partnership

    The unit steps back once the business is stable. Our capital stays in as a shareholder, aligned with you on the long-term result.

05 · Terrain

Sectors we know from the inside

We’ve owned, built, operated and invested in these sectors. These are the situations that usually lead to a call.

  • Property

    Half-let, fully mortgaged and one covenant away from the bank’s workout desk.

    Re-tenant, refinance, reposition.

  • Hospitality

    Full rooms and tables, and still losing money every month.

    Fix margins and management, then fund the recovery.

  • Retail

    Too many leases, too much stock and a customer base that has moved on.

    Close, renegotiate, sell through.

  • Asset rentals

    A fleet that costs more to finance than it earns.

    Right-size, restructure, rebuild yield.

  • Mining

    Stalled between licences, lenders and an unbudgeted care-and-maintenance bill.

    Align stakeholders and fund the restart, or find the buyer.

  • Technology

    A strong product, a high burn rate and six weeks of cash.

    Cut to the core, find revenue, bridge to the next round.

  • Financial services

    A loan or policy book growing faster than the capital behind it.

    Reprice the book, rebuild solvency, fund the gap.

  • Services

    Contracts priced before the wage increase, a payroll that lands before the client pays.

    Reprice contracts, fix collections, fund the payroll gap.

06 · Discretion

What’s said in the room stays there

We don’t publish a client list, and that is deliberate.

  1. Nothing about your business is recorded before a mutual NDA is signed.

  2. Your staff, lenders and competitors learn only what you choose, when you choose.

  3. Our capital arrives without announcements, press releases or deal tombstones.

  4. References are given in person, with consent, by people who owe us nothing.

  5. The credit for the recovery is yours. We don’t comment on our involvement, then or later.

07 · Contact

Start a conversation

A first name and a way to reach you is enough. A principal replies within 24 hours. What you send is not shared.

Response
Within 24 hours, from a principal
First assessment
Within 72 hours
Confidentiality
Mutual NDA from the first meeting
Prefer email
desk@turnex.co.za
Urgency
What you need
Keep it general. Detail can wait until the NDA is signed.

Only a principal reads it. No mailing lists. Privacy notice