Seller asking for "documentation of my credit worthiness" - self-funded
August 10, 2021
by a searcher from Harvard University in Boulder, CO, USA
A seller just emailed that they'd "like to see some documentation of your credit worthiness. Before we spend a bunch of time and energy, we’d like to know that you have the capital to do some sort of transaction."
I'm self-funded and don't want to share exactly what funds I have available. My hunch is that this business is pretty small, so I'm really not worried about the equity financing piece. I don't know the exact EBITDA of the business (it's a proprietary, non-brokered deal) so I don't want to reveal "I can pay up to x" if I then ascertain the business is worth .5x. Plus in general, I just don't like sharing personal financial information.
Any tips for how to reply, and what (if anything) concrete to share without pegging it to a specific dollar amount (of either my funds, or the EV I can pay with my funds + loan)?
in Toronto, ON, Canada
Interview your lenders, find their lending limit for your type of deal including price and multiple. Then you can tell the seller that you have been authorized to finance up to $10,000,000 and 3-6 EBITDA for example... The offer and price being conditional to finance and due diligence. Conditional to finance is referring to the bank or lenders term sheet/willing on your deal.
Or if you deal with a reputable law firm, accounting firm, etc. you can have them call and assure them that you can finance any transaction of x to y size.
Or have your lenders/bankers call and assure them!
I assume they are just looking for assurance that you aren't wasting their time.
from University of Texas at Austin in Austin, TX, USA