Due Diligence - What do you wish you had asked?

searcher profile

November 21, 2023

by a searcher from University of Virginia-Darden - Darden School of Business in Fairfax County, VA, USA

Closing in on my first signed LOI. This is a broker listed deal and they want to move the process along as quickly as possible.
1) If you ended up passing on a deal, what should you have asked early to avoid wasting time?
2) If you acquired, what do you wish you had looked at more closedly?

Thanks!

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commentor profile
Reply by a professional
from Ivey Business School at Western University in Toronto, ON, Canada
Most of the answers in this thread relate to financial due diligence. From a legal due diligence perspective, we try to figure out 1. What contracts will die on the closing date (due to change of control provisions that require consent or absolutely prohibit assignment or transfer to a buying party), 2. If the contract terms change the economics of, for example, customer agreements or employee agreements if the company is purchased (resulting in lower customer agreement LTV that expected, or "golden handshakes". 3. Strange clauses that increase risk or liability, or require higher than normal insurance. Those are good initial things to discover when performing legal due diligence.
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Reply by an intermediary
from Creighton University in Los Angeles, CA, USA
I co-founded a YC-backed startup that automates parts of the QoE/DD processes so you don't make any mistakes during the most important part of the acquisition process. It prevents you from looking back and wishing you had asked a certain question during this stage. Our AI product saves you weeks of time and thousands of dollars. I think it would make sense for us to chat. You can schedule a time on my calendar here: https://calendly.com/dealwise/dealwise-30-minute-call
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