Module · Layer 2 · Mergers & Acquisitions
You see commercial diligence as a one-shot deck instead of always-on intelligence.
Commercial diligence becomes a continuous instrument: a tier-1 always-on scan that promotes targets into tier-2 Pre-CDD as deal-flow signals warrant. Two sub-modules, one lifecycle.
Outcome · Where commercial uplift sits, per target
Entry valuation → operational + commercial improvements → exit.
- +15-30% expected EBITDA delta
- On the acquired entity over a 24-month integration window, lever-tagged.
- 3-5x deal-flow throughput
- Tier-1 always-on scan processes targets in days, not weeks.
- 50-70% diligence-cycle compression
- When a deal lands in Pre-CDD, the always-on scan output is already populated.
Ranges illustrative — your audit returns the bridge specific to your deal.
Tier 1 · M&A Scan
Targets fall through your funnel because you don't see them early enough.
- Always-on cross-industry scan, enriched from an external reference dataset of private companies — adjacent verticals + bolt-on archetypes + capability gaps your Strategic Baseline flags.
- Surfaces 50-200 candidates per quarter at the first-pass-fit stage; scored against your Strategic Baseline priorities.
- Promotes to Pre-CDD when deal-flow signals warrant — strategic fit confirmed, owner-readiness signal, valuation envelope plausible.
Tier 2 · Pre-CDD
You spend 3 weeks on commercial diligence per target — too slow for the pipeline.
- Dimension-score grid across commercial fundamentals: market position, segment health, customer concentration, channel posture, pricing realisation.
- Risk surfaces — concentration, switching cost, regulatory, channel dependency — flagged with confidence bands.
- Value-creation lever roadmap — operational + commercial improvements + multiple-expansion theses, sequenced by integration-readiness — lever-tagged for post-close roadmap handoff.
- Days, not weeks. Specialist legal / financial diligence (where mandated) runs in parallel through partner firms — Pre-CDD carries the commercial substance.
Methodology · Cross-tier handoff
How targets move through the lifecycle.
- How does the always-on scan promote a target to Pre-CDD?
- Three signals converge: strategic-fit score against your Strategic Baseline, owner-readiness signal (succession event, age band, prior partial transaction), and valuation envelope plausibility against comparable deals. Two of three triggers the promotion; all three triggers prioritisation.
- What does cross-tier handoff preserve?
- The full evidence trail: every Tier-1 signal carries forward to Tier 2. By the time a deal hits Pre-CDD, the scan output is already populated, and the dimension-score grid extends it rather than starting cold.
M&A diligence audit.
5 minutes. €0. Returns the diligence tier appropriate to your current deal-flow stage — and the targets your scan should be surfacing now.