Buy-Side Due Diligence

Due Diligence TeamEffective Agreements management has  led large, multi-departmental due diligence teams on hundreds of millions of dollars of acquisitions for a Fortune 500 company. Due diligence has been performed for transactions in the United States, England, Denmark, Israel, India, and Brazil.

Preliminary Due Diligence

Saving Time and Money With "First Look" Due Diligence

Effective Agreements suggests a limited "first look" by a small, knowledgeable due diligence team that may obviate the need for a full - and expensive - due diligence effort. This initial visit, properly managed, gathers enough information for management to determine:

  • That the data room is ready for expensive visits by large teams and outside experts, with up-to-date information correctly catalogued, complete sets of signed business agreements, current financials, etc.;
  • If the target matches the buyer's criteria closely enough to proceed;
  • If interaction with the target's management indicates that the parties are too far apart on price;
  • Whether or not a Letter of Intent as the first step in the process is advisable and under what terms;
  • The existence of contingent or other liabilities that would preclude a purchase;
  • If the difference in the parties cultures' could prove to be an insurmountable barrier.

Data Rooms

Data Room Visits

Effective Agreements provides over twelve years of experience managing buy-side due diligence visits to data rooms:

  • We make the assignments and supervise large cross-departmental due diligence teams, usually avoiding political battles between them;Magnifying Glass on Columns of Data
  • Our coordinator prevents the target's management team from being inundated by multiple information requests, all seeking the same data;
  • We control due diligence team members' visits to the target company so its senior management still has time for normal business pursuits, maintaining the value of the asset;
  • Effective Agreements supervises the outside experts' visits making them more efficient and coordinating their findings;
  • Effective Agreements ensures that items on the due diligence checklist are covered more than once by different experts to spot inconsistencies.

Serving the Buyer's Management

Due Diligence Results

  • Effective Agreements leads daily meetings/conference calls where the entire due diligence team (including outside experts) compare findings;
  • Effective Agreements' experience and procedures produce executive level summaries that allow the buyer's management team to focus on the critical indicators, without a lot of "noise."
  • We have unmatched expertise in explaining complex business and legal issues to senior management clearly and concisely, leading to quicker, well-informed decisions;
  • Information is presented in conformance with standardized templates so management does not have to contend with many reports that vary in appearance and quality.

Additional M&A Value

  • Effective Agreement's objectivity serves as a governor on the buyer's enthusiasm, especially if the originator - the person who located it - has "fallen in love" with the target;
  • We have taken part in the decision making process in over $500 million of transactions;
  • We have no vested interest in pushing a sale to conclusion to collect a large fee. 

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