Darcy Marler
Calgary Business Turnaround Advisor
Helping founder-led businesses with approximately $2 million to $50 million in annual revenue navigate cash flow pressure, lender issues, ownership disputes, restructuring decisions, and distressed projects.
25+ years helping businesses work through difficult decisions, restructurings, distressed projects, creditor negotiations, and high-pressure situations.
Experience
- •25+ years in private business
- •93 real estate acquisitions
- •More than 250 development and construction projects
- •Personally navigated a business restructuring involving $108 million in debt
- •Director and shareholder of Century Downs Racetrack and Casino
When Businesses Hit a Wall
Some businesses reach a point where normal operating decisions are no longer sufficient. The situation has changed. The pressure is real. And the usual approaches are no longer working.
- –Cash flow is tightening and difficult decisions can no longer be postponed.
- –The lender is asking harder questions and patience is wearing thin.
- –Key shareholders or partners no longer agree on the path forward.
- –A major project is consuming capital but not producing results.
- –Management is reacting instead of leading.
- –Creditors are becoming more aggressive.
- –Leadership transitions have created uncertainty across the organization.
- –The business is weighing restructuring options — but nobody has been through that process before.
- –Everyone has opinions but nobody is making decisions.
These are the situations where I do my best work.
Experience Under Pressure
I personally navigated a CCAA restructuring — a process that involved direct lender and creditor negotiations, capital partnership restructuring, asset sales, and full involvement through the business stabilization period.
I did not walk away. I worked through it — and that experience shapes how I approach every distressed business situation I encounter today.
That period taught me things that cannot be learned from a case study or a consulting engagement. What it actually feels like when a lender loses patience. The discipline required to keep a leadership team focused when the environment is unstable. The judgment needed to decide what to fight for and what to let go. The difficult conversations with partners and creditors when everyone is under pressure. The patience required when the process is slow and the stakes are real.
This is not theoretical. It is what I actually went through — and it is the foundation for how I work with founder-led businesses under pressure today.
Why Owners Call Me
Most restructuring professionals approach a situation from a legal, accounting, or lending perspective.
I approach it from the ownership side.
I have personally dealt with lenders, partners, creditor pressure, capital shortages, distressed projects, and difficult restructuring decisions.
My role is not to replace legal or financial advisors. My role is to help ownership think clearly, make decisions, and navigate the situation.
How I Help
Turnaround Advisory
For founder-led businesses already under pressure that need experienced outside judgment. I work directly with ownership and management on the real issues — cash flow, creditor relationships, capital structure, and the path forward. Not reports. Not generic advice. Getting into the situation and helping navigate it.
Interim Leadership
Temporary leadership support during restructurings, ownership transitions, distressed projects, or periods of significant uncertainty. Fractional CRO and interim executive roles for businesses that need experienced leadership engaged directly in the situation — not advising from a distance.
Special Situations
Assignments involving lender negotiations, shareholder disputes, distressed assets, stalled projects, and capital challenges. These are situations that fall outside the normal scope of lawyers, accountants, and financial advisors — and require someone who has been through complex, high-pressure business situations directly.
About Darcy
Darcy Marler has spent more than 25 years inside real businesses — working through turnarounds, distressed situations, ownership conflicts, capital restructurings, and leadership challenges across real estate, development, and private business.
His experience is not advisory from a distance. He has been the person responsible when the lender is calling, when the partners cannot agree, when the capital has run out, and when the decisions are difficult. He has navigated major creditor negotiations, capital restructurings, shareholder disputes, and distressed projects personally — not as an outside advisor, but as the person in the middle of the situation.
He works with founder-led and privately held businesses — primarily in Calgary and across Western Canada — that are dealing with cash flow pressure, lender issues, distressed projects, ownership disputes, and restructuring decisions. His value is practical judgment built from direct experience with difficult business situations.
He is not a consultant selling frameworks. He is someone who has been through serious business pressure — and can help ownership and leadership navigate it.
Real Situations I've Been Involved With
The following are examples of the types of situations I have worked on or alongside — directly or in an advisory capacity.
Restructuring & Business Stabilization
- –Businesses working through formal restructuring processes — including creditor negotiations, capital restructuring, asset sales, and stabilization through a difficult period.
- –Businesses weighing whether to restructure, refinance, or wind down — and working through that decision with ownership before it becomes urgent.
Cash Flow & Capital Pressure
- –Businesses where capital has been deployed, cash flow has not materialized as planned, and hard decisions about the runway can no longer be postponed.
- –Broken or stalled financing situations — obligations already made, capital not yet in place, and limited time to resolve the gap.
Ownership & Shareholder Disputes
- –Founder-led businesses where the shareholder group has fractured — different visions, different timelines, different willingness to accept risk or loss.
- –Partner disputes where the business relationship has broken down, decisions are blocked, and the business is suffering while principals are at an impasse.
Distressed Real Estate Projects
- –Development projects where capital has been deployed, timelines have slipped, lenders are pressing, and the original plan is no longer viable without modification.
- –Large land development decisions involving risk, timing, capital, and market conditions — where the decision to develop, hold, or sell involves significant pressure from multiple directions.
Lender Negotiations
- –Businesses navigating deteriorating lender relationships — covenant breaches, demand letters, and the shift from a cooperative to an adversarial dynamic.
- –Creditor negotiations where the business needs an experienced voice at the table who understands the business and the commercial reality — not just the legal position.
Leadership Transitions
- –Founder transitions where a key person is stepping back and the business lacks the depth to maintain stability during the change.
- –Situations where a leadership departure has created a vacuum — and the business needs experienced interim support while permanent leadership is resolved.
This Is For You If…
- —You own or lead a founder-led company generating approximately $2 million to $50 million in annual revenue and are facing a situation that requires experienced outside judgment.
- —You are a founder or business owner dealing with a serious situation — one with significant financial, legal, or personal consequences.
- —You are worried about running out of cash and the decisions that are coming.
- —Your lender relationship is becoming strained and you are not sure what comes next.
- —You are considering restructuring options — but have never been through that process before.
- —Your ownership group cannot agree on a path forward and the business is suffering as a result.
- —You are unsure whether to continue, restructure, refinance, or exit — and need experienced outside judgment.
- —A project has gone sideways and you need help thinking clearly about your real options — including the uncomfortable ones.
- —Creditors are becoming more aggressive and the situation is escalating.
- —You need calm, practical judgment from someone who has been through difficult situations — not theoretical advice.
This Is Also Relevant If…
- —You are a lender dealing with a borrower in distress — and need someone who can assess the business situation honestly, engage with the ownership group, and help move toward a resolution.
- —You are an insolvency lawyer whose client is facing a business restructuring — and needs someone with operational experience alongside the legal process.
- —You are an accountant or financial advisor whose client is in a situation that falls outside your normal scope — and you are looking for someone who can engage directly with the business issues.
- —You are a shareholder in a business that is under pressure — and you need experienced outside judgment that is not coming from inside the ownership group.
- —You are a business owner who has never been through a restructuring or a serious distressed situation before — and you need someone who has, to help you understand what is actually happening and what your options really are.
Confidential Inquiry
Calgary Business Turnaround Advisor
Founder-Led Companies | Special Situations | Restructuring Support
If your business is under pressure and you would like an experienced outside perspective, reach out confidentially. These conversations are private and without obligation.
I work with founder-led and privately held businesses — primarily in Calgary and across Western Canada — that are dealing with cash flow pressure, lender issues, distressed projects, ownership disputes, and restructuring decisions.