Free download
The list a buyer's lawyers will send you.
When a buyer reaches diligence, their advisers send a document request list. Most owners see it for the first time after they have agreed a price — which is the worst possible moment, because from then on every gap found is a deduction. This is that list, twelve months early.
103 items9 workstreams62 pre-marketExcel, ready to work
What is in it
- Every item a buyer asks for, organised the way their advisers organise it — corporate, financial, tax, commercial, employment, IP and data, property, regulatory, litigation.
- Why each one is asked for, so you can see what the buyer is actually testing rather than just what they are requesting.
- Where owner-led businesses usually fall short on each item. This is the column that does the work — most of it will be uncomfortably familiar.
- A pre-market flag on the 62 items that change your negotiating position rather than just your filing.
- Status, owner and location columns with dropdowns, plus a summary tab that scores your readiness by workstream as you complete it.
The most valuable item on the list is the last one: a written note of anything you
would rather a buyer did not find. Disclosed early, on your terms, it is a negotiation. Discovered
late, it is a price reduction.
Built from the diligence processes we run on sell-side mandates for founder, family and owner-led businesses. General guidance for New Zealand and Australia — it is a preparation tool, not legal or accounting advice.
On its way
Thank you.
Read our notes Take the Exit Readiness ScorecardWe also write occasional notes on M&A and capital across New Zealand, Australia and South-East Asia. Subscribe to Insights if that is useful — it is separate from this download.