INTERNATIONAL DUE DILIGENCE

Are you looking to invest in a business or company based in the UK?

Do you want the comfort of knowing that you are paying the right price and will receive and keep what you believe you are paying for?

Any organisation which is considering investing in a business in the UK should check the assumptions it is making about that target acquisition.

Through our Due Diligence process we can provide peace of mind, save you time and save you significant amounts of money by challenging the assumptions you have made about the business you seek to acquire.  We may also uncover problems or circumstances which have not previously been identified or understood.

The information gathered can be used to help you:

• ensure you fulfil your business plans
• decide if it's a good investment
• buy the parts of the business you need rather than the whole
• negotiate a reduction in the price
• improve integration after investing
• speed up and maximise a return on your investment
• show that you are getting exactly what you want and maybe even more.

Most solicitors and Due Diligence service providers perform a desktop exercise, possibly visit the acquisition target and they do a basic job.  We feel that this may not be enough and it can fail to give you all the information you need to decide whether you are making a good investment.  To be sure of your investment we believe that local knowledge is just as important to a potential investor as the information uncovered by the traditional Due Diligence exercise.  Local knowledge is rarely written down and can make the difference between your investment making you money or becoming a large and costly mistake.  Our firm has access to local knowledge through our established business connections and our wider network of advisors in specialist business areas.  Your Due Diligence report will always include this essential information.

The full Due Diligence service we offer will save you time, money and give you the confidence you are investing in an asset rather than taking on a liability.

Recent due diligence exercises have:

• Stopped a Dutch company paying for shares in an English company where the seller did not actually own the shares.
• Saved a business from accepting staff liabilities of over £300 000 when they were not part of the original deal.
• Identified and ensured that faults with the title to a piece of land were rectified at the cost of the seller before a client purchased the land.

We are able to provide different levels of Due Diligence ranging from checking whether the shares you are proposing to buy exist to a full strategic analysis of your acquisition target, to seeing what synergy it will provide to your business.

Please contact Alistair Latham (ail@sjplaw.co.uk) or Andrew Procter (acp@sjplaw.co.uk) on 0044 (0)1482 324591 for further information and a guide on price.