Commercial Due Diligence

When making a decision on investing in a company, you need a due diligence team that can provide strategic and operational expertise and fresh insights.

You need professionals who can uncover surprises – both positive and negative.

Stanton Associates – Experience you can rely on
Our background evaluating companies is extensive – both top down as well as at the functional level. We have been doing it most of our careers, often as the new CEO or applicable C-level executive evaluating the state of play, knowing that rapid and effective improvements will need to be made to deliver the results the Board expects.

We are different from other consulting firms which perform due diligence by sending in bright, but inexperienced, professionals with a checklist to guide them. When we talk with customers, suppliers, and competitors, the conversation has greater depth and reveals hidden truths. Our accomplished team of experts applies Stanton Associates’ detailed methodology for a comprehensive evaluation, and delivers results you can trust.

Our comprehensive approach covers the critical elements:

  • Creation of an integrated report on the target’s business operations, products/services, customer relations, sales and marketing effectiveness, and competitive position
  • Review for risk factors affecting purchase price
  • Management team assessment
  • Evaluation of the quality of the company’s methodology to forecast sales, cash flow, and earnings
  • Compensation structure – especially executive and sales incentive compensation plans
  • Consideration to the level of difficulty associated with merging, absorbing, or discarding different departments and functional areas after the acquisition
  • Strategy fit (especially where the purchase extends the product lines of the platform company or is intended to open new market opportunities)
  • Product line analysis and rationalization with a review for impact on marketing, distribution, sales, and other areas that will need to be harmonized
  • Financial review (not the same as accounting due diligence from CPAs) – focuses on quality of business plans, KPIs, budgets, and other business metrics
  • Culture fit (not something that shows up on the spreadsheets analyzing the deal, but if the target is too far out of alignment it can be a lengthy, expensive process to straighten things out)
  • Macro level review of trends affecting future growth – includes: demographic changes, government regulations, technological changes, industry forces such as consolidation, market expansion or contraction
  • Identification of strategic options for a higher rate of growth

We recognize that not all these services may be necessary for each acquisition and that others may be. We have the experience and expertise not to be shackled and blinkered by prescribed checklists. Stanton Associates will deliver a critical assessment of the target’s business.

When you are out of bandwidth and unable to spend days in the field digging into details, or simply when it makes sense to get a second opinion, give us a call. We’re confident you’ll consider Stanton Associates an excellent choice.