While due diligence may not be the most exciting topic, being able to evaluate and understand a potential partner, buyer, or acquisition is important to all growing companies. A virtual dataroom supports companies within these processes. The three primary categories of due diligence are legal, financial, and strategic. Although they have traditionally been distinct, an effective due diligence program combines elements of all three areas. In this guide, readers can learn about how legal and financial due diligence relate to strategic due diligence and how a data room can help organizations securely share important information during the due diligence process.

Legal Due Diligence

In the legal due diligence process, the goal is to examine the legal foundation of the transaction. For instance, a buyer may want to ensure the acquisition holds IP rights that are crucial to the company’s future success. Other areas to be explored include those listed in the section below.

• Legal structure
• Loans
• Contracts
• Property
• Employment
• Upcoming litigation

Legal due diligence and strategic due diligence are closely related because, if there’s little legal basis on which to perform the transaction, the buying company must change its assumptions about the target company.

Financial Due Diligence

During the process of financial due diligence, the buyer focuses on checking the financial information offered by the target company as a means of assessing its underlying performance. The process covers the following areas.

• Earnings
• Assets
• Cash flow
• Liabilities
• Management
• Debt

Again, strategic and financial due diligence are intertwined. If a target company’s assets, debts, earnings, cash flow, and liabilities aren’t what the buyer expects, that company may have to adjust its business plan to align more closely with current market conditions.

Strategizing Due Diligence

In Strategic Due Diligence, the buying company evaluates the market in which the target company exists. For instance, the buyer may interview the other company’s current customers, assess its competitors, and perform a full analysis of the assumptions behind the target company’s current business plan. All due diligence, including the strategic variety, is done to determine whether the business plan can hold up to the market’s realities.

Factors to Consider During Due Diligence

There are two main factors to consider during the strategic due diligence phase of a merger or acquisition. The first step is to determine the commercial viability of the deal, and it involves validating the target company’s financials and potential areas of compatibility. Companies can do this by assessing the target company’s position within the market and by evaluating how it may change with time. Whether the buyer is out of the market or a direct competitor, this analysis is important. However, for competitive buyers, the commercial viability issue can be more complex as it involves a calculation of the combined entity’s competitive position.

As to the second factor, the buyer must determine whether the combined management team can achieve the deal’s targeted value and whether the timeline is realistic. For in-market M&A, it is important that all associated risks in terms of competitive response and culture issues are weighed and managed. If a greater market share is the main value driver of the transaction, leaders should ensure the target company’s executives can meet customers’ needs while evading competitors who will try to win over clients and customers during the transition phase. Although compatibility testing is important during in-market mergers, financial buyers are equally well served by an in-depth analysis that provides a greater understanding of value drivers within the target company.

Using a Virtual Data Room During the Due Diligence Process

Virtual data rooms—also known as VDRs—are online repositories or warehouses where information is distributed and securely stored. This storage and sharing method is primarily designed for mergers and acquisitions and strategic due diligence as well as other applications involving the use of sensitive information. In the context of due diligence, a data room retains all information that is critical to the merger and acquisition process. Data and information related to divisions, units, and companies being bought or sold are stored in the VDR.

All parties participating in the merger or acquisition are allowed to access the information while uninvolved parties are kept out. In the recent past, traditional methods entailed using a physical storage facility—sometimes referred to as a PDR or physical data room—to store documents and information for future distribution. As time has passed and technology has evolved, many companies have transitioned from PDRs to online storage, and the virtual data room has taken center stage.

While it may look easy on television, the merger and acquisition process can be complex. Every business is unique, and all mergers have different circumstances. Anticipating and handling these developments is crucial for ensuring the acquisition is appropriate for both companies. Buyers should continually adapt their strategies and continue to work with experts who can offer solid insights into the firm’s weak areas.