Due Diligence

Due diligence is applied in many different ways to a host of financial market and corporate finance situations. In M&A, due diligence for putative buyers plays a critical role in defining whether a deal goes ahead and if so, on what terms. Analysts on the buy side will conduct a thorough examination of a target, including its business model, provenance of revenues, cash flow and profits, market position, market share and governance. They will lay out financial and other risks (including taxation-related factors) that may materialise and impact the transaction and provide an assessment of whether the deal presents future value.