Commercial due diligence

When a corporate or a private equity house wants to acquire another company, it needs to thoroughly understand that company’s current and projected performance. PwC provides a commercial due diligence reporting, which usually involves a comprehensive review of the company’s business plan in the context of projected market conditions and the industry/competition.

Our international strategy group numbers more than 250 dedicated specialists and consultants, each with a specific sector focus (enabling rapid diagnosis of key deal issues), and many with previous commercial management experience in some of the world’s leading companies. Each member of the team can draw on the extensive expertise and resources of PwC’s worldwide industry networks.

We have conducted over 1500 commercial due diligence and strategic assignments over the last 5 years. By working alongside PwC financial due diligence teams we offer a more advanced service to our clients. As a result, PwC’s conclusions are based on well-researched, integrated views of all aspects of the transaction.

If this is your situation

  • You are considering acquiring a company, but there is market or competitive uncertainty in areas, such as new technologies, customers, trends, legislation, powerful buyers, or a new geographic market and you need to know how these issues might impact the current and future value of the company
  • You are considering acquiring a company, and the revenue/EBIT projections appear to be very aggressive (relative to historic performance). You therefore need to test/validate the feasibility of realising these projections
  • You are considering acquiring a company, and a significant proportion of the revenue/EBIT projections appear to be based upon the success of new products, customers and/or markets. You therefore need to test/validate the reasonableness of these assumptions

How PwC can help you

  • Your organisation will reap maximum benefit from the PwC network at the most critical stage in the process and you can therefore take informed decisions as to whether this is still a route you wish to take.
  • Rapid diagnosis of - and subsequent focus on - key commercial deal issues, with the result that you can be sure that you've received expert advice regarding recent developments in your chosen sector.
  • Our commercial due diligence specialists examine the external market trends and their impact on the target's ability to achieve forecast results.
  • We asses the market size and segmentation and growth potential.
  • PwC analyses key competitors and their market shares to establish whether the target has defined niche to exploit its strengths and advantages.
  • Our team compares the external analysis with an assessment of the target's competitive positioning by: evaluating the target's strategy, examining growth plans, interviewing customers to obtain their views, assessing how sales and marketing turn strategy into action.