M&A and strategic transactions
Run a transaction on a record that survives diligence
Whether you are preparing to sell, preparing to buy, or already in a live process, the work is the same shape: get the records right, structure the disclosure, and track what each side owes the other.
Sell-side
Find it before the buyer does
Vendor readiness, memorandum, data room.
Buy-side
Examine with discipline
Criteria, workstreams, closing checklist.
Position
Sell-side and buy-side need different preparation
The workstreams differ because the risk sits in different places. Start from the side you are on.
Sell-side
Preparing to be examinedA buyer’s diligence will find whatever your records actually say. Vendor readiness means finding it first and deciding how to present or remediate it.
- Corporate, contractual and financial housekeeping
- Change-of-control terms identified before a buyer finds them
- Information memorandum and valuation support
- Data room structured before the process opens
Buy-side
Preparing to examineAcquisitions fail on undisciplined diligence more often than on price. Buy-side work is about defining criteria and running workstreams that actually close.
- Written acquisition criteria before any target is assessed
- Diligence workstreams with named owners
- Valuation support analysis
- Closing and integration checklist
Workflow
The data room is a record, not a shared folder
It does two jobs: it lets a counterparty find what it needs without asking you for every file, and it records what was disclosed, when, and to whom.
How access works
- Permissions are set per counterparty and per folder, not granted wholesale
- Access to each document is logged, so disclosure can be evidenced later
- Diligence requests are tracked as items with owners and due dates
- Withdrawing access is an explicit action with a recorded effect
What it does not do
- It does not review your documents for legal risk — your counsel does that
- It makes no representation about the accuracy of what you disclose
- It does not negotiate, and it holds no transaction funds
- It does not decide what must be disclosed under the transaction documents
Hard limits
What is never in scope
These do not change with a commercial decision. They are the boundary of the product.
- Acting as broker of record on a transaction
- Negotiating price and terms on your behalf
- Holding escrow or transaction funds
- Taking a success fee on a completed transaction
- Drafting the sale and purchase agreement or disclosure schedules
- Operating an anonymised deal exchange or matching buyers with sellers
Engagements
Published programmes
Each states its scope, deliverables, exclusions and process in full before a request is made.
Sell-side transaction readiness
Vendor diligence readiness review
Buy-side acquisition programme
Acquisition criteria definition
Data room and diligence coordination
Data room structure and permissioned access
Process
How a transaction engagement runs
Confidentiality is established before material is exchanged, and each stage has an owner.
Qualification and confidentiality
YouSell-side or buy-side position, objectives and confidentiality requirements are established before any material is exchanged.
Transaction readiness review
Qualified providerCorporate, financial and contractual housekeeping is reviewed against what a counterparty's diligence will examine.
Materials preparation
Qualified providerValuation support, information memorandum or acquisition criteria, and the supporting analysis are prepared by a qualified advisor.
Data room and diligence coordination
Qualified providerA permissioned data room is set up and diligence requests are tracked and answered through the platform rather than by scattered email.
Closing checklist
Qualified providerConditions, deliverables and sign-off items are tracked to completion. Legal drafting sits with your counsel.
If the process stalls
Transactions do not always complete
Each of these has a defined path rather than an abandoned workspace.
- If this happens
The counterparty withdraws
Access is revoked, the disclosure record is retained, and the readiness work carries over to the next process rather than being repeated.
- If this happens
Diligence uncovers a material issue
The finding is recorded with an owner and a remediation path. Whether it is fixed, disclosed or priced is a decision for you and your counsel.
- If this happens
Scope changes mid-engagement
Scope changes are re-quoted rather than absorbed silently, so the commercial position stays legible.
- If this happens
The deal is abandoned
The workspace closes and materials are retained under the applicable retention position, which is a legal decision rather than a platform default.
Boundary
Who is responsible, and who decides
Providers
Who delivers the work
Transaction advisory is delivered by qualified M&A advisors. Their verification state and verified credentials are shown on their profile.
Adjacent
If a raise is the real objective
Fundraising preparation and transaction readiness overlap but are not the same workstream.
No transaction outcome is being promised.