Buying a business can be one of the most profitable ventures that a company or individual can make. But in either case, it is an investment decision that requires careful consideration. In mergers and acquisitions, due diligence is the analysis conducted by a buyer of a target company before entering…

Compliance is not the box ticking exercise that many people believe it to be. Far from it, in fact. One survey conducted by a risk management association showed that its members spend 6–10% of their revenue on compliance. But if the cost of compliance seems steep, try non-compliance. …

The well-documented move towards online services during the Covid-19 pandemic brought a few high-profile winners, most notably e-commerce giant Amazon. But less well-documented was how Covid-19 convinced a growing band of investors that the new reality had made most startup companies even more valuable than they had been just a…

Due diligence is a complex affair that takes in every component of a business. In the thousands of due diligence processes that DealRoom has played host to, there has been a vast range of actors participating on deals: tax lawyers, forensic accountants, health specialists, government lobbyists, and more. The scope…

Compliance is an expensive business. According to one estimate, large firms pay an average of $10,000 per employee in compliance costs per year. While this may seem like a staggeringly large sum, companies are incentivized to pay it by the fact that non-compliance is even more expensive. …

The question: “what is your exit plan?” tends to draw a lot of blank expressions when asked to business owners. ‍ A survey of business owners conducted by the Exit Planning Institute shows that a startling 2 out of 10 businesses that are listed for sale eventually close a transaction…

Companies are looking to buy like never before. Between record amounts of ‘dry powder’ in private equity, capital relatively easy to come by thanks to more quantitative easing, and (for now) near zero interest rates, acquisitions are firmly on the corporate agenda. If one comes knocking on your company’s door…

Companies that achieve the best sales valuations are almost always the ones that prepare properly. Preparing for a sale can enhance the value of a company even if it does not end up being acquired. The following steps will be common to all business owners, regardless of their size or…

Mergers and acquisitions can be an excellent way of adding to the human capital of a business. When Goldman Sachs acquired J. Aron & Co., a small trading company, in the early 1980s, one of the traders they took on ended up being the company’s CEO. This isn’t uncommon. Other…