Closing the deal might just be the easy part. We support our clients to go behind just closing the deal and in the current climate we’ve been highlighting particular potential risks over;
- VAT (if the business is not a ‘going concern’ there are risks)
- Goodwill (the loyalty kind, not the accounting kind) and continuity of trading relationships
- Asset values (are debtors recoverable, are stock and work in progress overvalued, is the going concern basis for values appropriate?)
- Employer liabilities, including risks related to ‘furlough fraud’ (see this link for more information)
- Funding and measuring working capital requirement (can the business repay its creditors as they fall due based on current trading)
In addition there is likely to be a pressing need for cost reduction to realise consolidation synergies as well as other efficiency and revenue gains for the business case to add up.
How we can help: Our experience is not only based on multiple completed transactions but also operational experience of planning and integrating acquisitions to realise value creation. It consistently shows that successful businesses think beyond just closing the deal. If you want to accelerate and optimise your acquisition pipeline, get in touch.
