Buying and selling a business can be a very risky step to undertake, with over half of all transactions failing. Carrying out proper due diligence is the most effective way to reduce that risk and to improve your chances of a successful transaction.

Due diligence should help businesses add value to their new acquisitions. As well as simply checking things out it should be structured to help businesses make better development decisions.

Often thought of as boring, expensive and time consuming, due diligence gives answers to crucial questions. How can you be sure you are buying the company you think you are? How do you avoid unexpected costs and nasty surprises? How do you negotiate the best deal? Due Diligence in Mergers and Acquisitions will help newcomers quickly get to grips with this complex area, learning what to look out for and what to avoid.

Despite being one of the most important steps of the process of acquisition, due diligence is frequently misunderstood and mishandled. This course aims to change that.

What you will gain

·         Master the practical aspects of due diligence, including how to best out of the process through planning and selecting the right advisers

·         Recognise the importance of integration, how to avoid common pitfalls and the subsequent failure of acquisitions

·         Identify and quantify potential problems and liabilities

·         Understand potential problems with cross-border due diligence and create a strategy to cope with these

Content

Why due diligence?

·         What is due diligence and how is it useful?

·         What is valuation?

·         How do due diligence and valuation interlink?

Structuring and managing due diligence

·         When do you do due diligence?

·         What are you looking for?

·         What is cross border due diligence?

·         How do you plan due diligence?

·         How do you deal with issues and obstacles?

·         Who can help you?

Due diligence disciplines

·         What is financial due diligence?

·         What is legal due diligence?

·         What is commercial due diligence?

·         Are there any other due diligence disciplines?

Due diligence and integration

·         Why is integration so important?

·         What are the common pitfalls?

·         How can you use due diligence to plan for the integration of the business?

Sellers of businesses

·         What can sellers expect from the process?

·         What are potential purchasers looking for?

·         What are the differences between trade and private equity buyers?

·         What are data rooms?

·         How do you balance confidentiality with the need to sell the business?

Author

Peter Howson

Peter Howson is a director of AMR International, London's leading independent provider of commercial due diligence. He has worked on over 200 due diligence assignments. He has over 25 years of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and business development experience gained both in industry and as an advisor. Peter has a degree in Economics, is a CIMA qualified accountant and holds an MBA from Manchester Business School. He has written three M&A and due diligence related books.