Documentation preview

• extensive check that key documents are available
• trace relevant paperwork
• consistency with valuation of the business
• adequate and timely accounting procedures

Without adequate planning, a well intentioned deal timetable can be ruined by unexpected problems arising from the due diligence procedures undertaken by the purchaser. The best time to see that all the paperwork and original records are in place to face this process is before the business is actively marketed for sale - the approach used by Transaction Management is to ‘walk the course’ well before anyone representing a purchaser is allowed to start work.

Sales memorandum preparation

• written for the potential purchaser
• structured to link to supporting documentation
• summary of key data
• confidentiality

The document is best presented as an acquisition profile, written from the potential purchaser’s point of view and containing all the information he would need to make a provisional offer. Too many sales memoranda are ill-conceived jumbles of loosely connected information and photocopied documents. If linked to Documentation Preview, the acquisition profile can be a structured document that is supported by material available for inspection later.