Financial due diligence (sell side) and vendor assistance

When a company is up for sale - or wants to sell off one of its divisions - it needs to show potential buyers a detailed report attesting to its financial health.

Vendor due diligence gives you an in-depth report on financial health of the company you're selling. It provides vendors with greater control over the sale process and the timing of the sale which in turn can help secure a higher price for the business. PwC provides comfort to both buyers and sellers, taking an independent view of the business, encompassing its performance and its prospects.

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

If this is your situation

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

How PwC can help you

• We provide vendors with greater control over the sale process and the timing of the sale, which can help secure a higher price for the business.
• We provide purchasers with greater certainty over the nature of the business and the characteristics of its cash flow. This helps in taking pricing decisions and determining the level of gearing the structure will support.
• We help you reduce disruption to the business, as the sale process is more controlled.
• We help add credibility to the facts, figures and information provided in the sale memorandum.
• We remove the necessity for a buyer to have substantial access to do its own due diligence work as it can rely on the vendor due diligence report.
• Vendor assistance specialists help ensure that you retain the initiative and control over the pace of progress throughout the sale process.
• We ensure early identification of value-critical issues, providing you with the option to "regroup and fix" without the glare of publicity.
• We ensure rapid execution of the divestment from the point of announcement. This reduces the business disruption and accelerates the transfer to the new owners.
• We reduce the risk of uncertainty for finance buyers, potentially justifying higher offers.