When your company is considering making an acquisition, it is essential that you are armed with as much knowledge as possible. Usually, acquisition targets are new to the potential purchaser, making the level of uncertainty even greater.

Acquisition studies form an integral part of the due diligence process. Most of the information is gathered through the following means:

Interviews with the acquisition targets themselves – to gauge their strategy, intentions, performance, and characteristics
Interviews with competitors of the acquisition target – to assess their views of the acquisition target’s strengths and weaknesses as well as the strategy, intentions, performance and characteristics of the competitors themselves
Interviews with customers of the acquisition target – these are arguably the most important conversations of all, as they allow us to gauge the reputation, performance and brand values of the acquisition target, as well as pick up ‘industry gossip’ regarding issues such as the target’s financial status
Published information such as annual reports and industry reports
Interviews with suppliers and distributors to the acquisition target - these interviews can provide some interesting perspectives in terms of the performance and attributes of the acquisition target

View B2B International USA Inc profile