Due Diligence: Planning, Questions, Issues

People often fall in love with a business―just as they fall in love with a house―and forget to use their heads as well as their hearts to assess the property. Asking the right question at the right time can save potential buyers a bundle of money or help them avoid making a major mistake. In this completely revised edition of Due Diligence Techniques and Analysis, published in 1996, Bing breaks down the due-diligence process in detail and shows readers how to investigate, step-by-step, a business with an eye to buying or investing in it. In addition, the author identifies the techniques to employ, the questions to ask, the documents to review, and the issues to explore to reach intelligent conclusions about an acquisition. In a 30-year practice as a deal maker representing buyers and sellers, Bing knows where the bones are buried in many deals, providing invaluable insights and expert opinion readers can use to arm themselves when faced with a tough buying decision.

Fifty chapters cover the different aspects of a typical business up for sale, such as ownership, management, marketing, accounting, environmental issues, and culture. The questions and topics discussed in each are preceded by commentary that highlights major areas for study, objectives, and common problems. In this book, you will find: ―The most comprehensive, powerful, up-to-date set of due-diligence questions ever assembled. ―Invaluable insights for those contemplating buying or investing in a business, new executives who need to get up to speed on a company or division, anyone conducting forensic investigations, and financiers wondering whether it's time to lend more or pull the plug. Most acquisitions that fail can be traced to failures of due diligence. This book will enable buyers to avoid problems and spot opportunities quickly, making business success much more likely.