After reviewing thousands of acquisition opportunities and working with hundreds of searchers, I’ve seen just about every version of a deal — the good, the bad, and the ugly. One thing I consistently see is searchers investing significant amounts of time and money into opportunities before they have answered some of the most important questions: Is the business actually worth pursuing? Does the financial performance support the asking price? Are there issues that could create problems during diligence? Is the proposed transaction structure realistic? Will the acquisition be financeable? And perhaps most importantly: Is this an opportunity worth spending the next several months pursuing? I’m now offering a confidential, fixed-fee Pre-Diligence Acquisition Assessment for searchers who want an experienced second set of eyes before committing substantial resources to a transaction. The process is straightforward. You provide the available financial information, CIM, seller materials and other relevant documentation, along with a completed questionnaire. I conduct a comprehensive review of the opportunity and provide a written assessment within approximately 3–5 business days. Depending on the transaction, the assessment may include: • Business and industry overview • Historical financial performance • EBITDA and normalization analysis • Revenue and customer concentration • Working capital considerations • Valuation and purchase price analysis • Transaction structure • Debt and equity requirements • Financing considerations • Key diligence risks and potential red flags • Questions that should be addressed with the seller • Potential transaction or financing obstacles • Recommended next steps Where appropriate, and with your authorization, I can also seek preliminary feedback from experienced contacts within my lending and investment network regarding the potential financeability and structure of the opportunity. The objective is not to replace your CPA, QoE provider, lawyer or other professional advisors. It is to help you determine whether an opportunity warrants moving forward to that level of diligence in the first place. For a searcher, the cost of discovering a problem early can be measured in hours and thousands of dollars. Discovering the same problem after weeks or months of work, professional fees, travel and diligence can be considerably more expensive. My goal is simple: help searchers make better-informed decisions about where they invest their time, capital and energy. If you are evaluating an acquisition and would like an independent assessment before taking the next step, feel free to send me a DM. I’m happy to discuss the process and determine whether it makes sense for your particular opportunity.