THE CHALLENGE
The company that would become known as Covia faced a series of major changes in four years: an IPO, which led to a rebrand and name change, and then a merger, which led to a second, major rebranding and name change. Such rapid change is almost unprecedented in any company, and to help manage it, they turned to D&E.
THE INSIGHT
Moving smoothly through these highly regulated transitions – specifically an IPO and merger with one of their largest competitors – would require a completely integrated effort that ensured that employees, leadership, investors, communities and the media were all on the same page.
THE SOLUTION
- Develop a comprehensive program to prepare for the IPO that included building the investor relations function, training on how to communicate as a public company, development of an Investor Relations (IR) strategy, and assistance with roadshow preparation and debut as a public company including the company’s first IR website, earnings call and annual report
- Temporarily staff the communications and IR functions to develop the IR and PR strategy, messaging and foundational tools
- Help implement the brand development strategy and tools following the IPO
- Assist with all communications around the merger with Unimin and manage the major rebrand effort, including development and introduction of the new name
- Deploy culture integration best practices to align and develop employee communication for both sides of the merger on values and mission
THE RESULTS
- The company successfully transitioned from Fairmount Minerals, a privately held company, to a publicly-traded Fairmount Santrol, and finally to Covia
