The buyers of companies are no longer satisfied – as was often the case in the past – for their requirements to be contractually covered in the form of securities and guarantees. In order to increase the success rate of company acquisitions, financial, legal, tax-related and other opera-tional analyses – as well as detailed investigations of the relevant markets and products – are now carried out before any definitive purchase. In particular, critical circumstances and thus any risks associated with the target company should be identified in advance.
Due diligence investigations generally focus on the following three strategic elements:
- Acquisition strategy:
- Does the acquisition make sense?
- Has the appropriate target been identified?
- Can synergy potential be exploited?
- Deal-breakers:
- Is the company to be acquired exposed to particular risks or weaknesses that could jeopardise the transaction? - Transaction structure:
- Is the transaction optimally structured?
- Is the financing guaranteed?
- Does the structure of the contract take into account all major risks and circumstances?
Thanks to their many years of experience in the identification of risk and their business-oriented approach, our consultants are ideally equipped to handle this important and demanding task. Our interdisciplinary teams comprised of business administrators, tax and legal advisors will help to ensure that your acquisition is a success.
André Fässler