M&A DUE DILIGENCE
Diligence that pressure tests the deal - not just the spreadsheet.
Financial and legal diligence will tell you what the target is worth on paper. Operational, technology and transformation diligence will tell you what it will cost, in time, complexity and risk, to make the deal work. Forbury is engaged by acquirers, by private equity sponsors, and by boards on the sell-side, to bring that second view into the room before the deal is signed.
The questions we answer
Is the synergy case real?
We rebuild the synergy thesis from the operating model up, separating the assumptions that are defensible from the ones that will not survive a steering committee in eighteen months.
Can the technology estate carry the deal?
Platform overlap, data debt, integration cost, run-cost trajectory, security and regulatory posture. The estate that looked manageable in the data room often is not.
Is the operating model fit for combination?
Functional duplication, decision rights, customer journey misalignment, regulatory perimeter, third-party dependencies, and the architectural questions that determine whether two businesses can become one.
What does integration actually cost?
A grounded cost-to-achieve estimate the CFO can defend, and a realistic timeline for synergy capture against it.
Where is the people risk?
Concentration of critical knowledge, leadership depth, cultural compatibility and retention exposure.
What you receive
A diligence pack designed to be read in a boardroom rather than filed by a workstream lead. Findings, risks, mitigations, and a clear view on whether, and on what terms, the deal supports the value thesis. We make the call the board needs us to make.
The job of diligence is not to confirm the deal. It is to be sure of it.
Engagement Shapes
Confirmatory Diligence
A focused review against a defined hypothesis, tightly scoped and time-boxed to the deal window.
Operational Diligence
A deeper assessment of operating model, technology, data and people implications, with cost-to-achieve and integration runway.
Vendor Diligence (Sell-Side)
Diligence that anticipates the questions a serious acquirer will ask, and positions the asset accordingly.
Red-Team Review
A challenge of an existing diligence position by an independent senior pair of eyes, ahead of investment committee.