Vendor assistance and vendor due diligence

When a company is up for sale - or selling off one of its parts - it needs to show an in-depth report on its financial health to potential buyers. This is called vendor due diligence. PwC provides comfort to both buyers (acquires) and sellers (vendors) with an independent view of the business, encompassing its performance and prospects.

Vendor due diligence aims to address the concerns and issues that may be relevant to even the most demanding purchaser. For vendors undertaking a disposal or selling off a part of their own business, vendor assistance provides bespoke solutions to assist you in successfully completing your divestments.

We can help you when

• Your company's strategy involves disposing of part of the business, whether through a carve-out of business units, or by the sale of existing entities
• Your company is in the process of restructuring/re-focusing its activities
• You want to reposition your portfolio focus on core businesses, or return value to shareholders
• You have started to feel pressure from financiers as a result of deteriorating financial ratios.

How we can support you

• Provide vendors with greater control over the sale process and the timing of sale, which can help secure a higher price for the business
• Provide purchasers with greater certainty over the nature of the business and the characteristics of its cash flow. This helps pricing decisions and the level of gearing the structure will support
• Reduce disruption to the business as the sale process is more controlled
• Help add credibility to the facts, figures and information provided in the sales memorandum
• Remove the necessity for a buyer to have substantial access to do their own due diligence work as they will be able to rely on the vendor due diligence report
• Vendor assistance specialists can ensure that the vendor retains pace and initiative throughout the sale process
• Early identification of value critical issues, providing the option to "regroup and fix" outside the glare of publicity
• Rapid execution of the divestment from the point of announcement. This reduces the business disruption and accelerates transfer to new owners
• Reduces uncertainty risk for finance buyers, potentially justifying higher offers.

Vendor assistance is potentially more suitable in situations where the likely purchasers are trade buyers and can be less time consuming than 'full scope' vendor due diligence. The key difference between vendor due diligence and vendor assistance is that the latter is provided for the benefit of the vendor only.

Vendor assistance provides bespoke solutions to assist vendors in successfully completing divestments. Vendor assistance is provided for the benefit of the vendor only.

Our vendor assistance specialists work alongside company management and their lead advisers throughout the process, ensuring that opportunities and issues are understood and the correct steps are taken.