01. The Engagement
The six stages.
A sell-side mandate goes through all six. Buy-side, financing and valuation engagements use the ones they need.
01
Scope
Perimeter drawn, diligence index built
02
Information
Numbered request lists
03
Data Room
Indexed, mirrored, reconciled
04
Analysis
Normalized, consolidated, tied
05
Working Group
One coordination point
06
Materials
Teaser, memorandum, buyer pack
Scope
Perimeter and diligence index
In the first week, the firm defines what is being sold or financed, maps the legal entities, draws the transaction perimeter and builds a numbered diligence index that every later document refers to.
01
Information
Numbered request lists
Each request has a number, one owner and a due date. The client can see what is still open at any time, and nothing already delivered is requested again.
02
Data Room
Every file indexed and tracked
Files are kept exactly as received, with the date they arrived. A working copy is organized into numbered folders under one naming convention, matching the buyer data room folder for folder, and a tracker shows what is complete and what is missing.
03
Analysis
The model and the valuation
The financial statements are put on a consistent basis, entities are consolidated with intercompany balances eliminated line by line, and reported earnings are reconciled to adjusted earnings. The operating model, its scenarios and the valuation are built on that base.
04
Working Group
One coordination point
The banker, counsel, accountants and the quality-of-earnings provider each need different things from the client. Their requests go through one point, so the client answers each question once, and email is the record of every request and answer.
05
Materials
Teaser, memorandum and buyer pack
The teaser, memorandum and buyer pack are written from the same numbers as the model, so every figure a buyer reads can be found in the model.
06
The numbers are settled before the documents are written.
02. The Standard
Four commitments a client can check.
Every figure has a source
Each figure traces to the statement it came from, and the model is checked in both directions before it is delivered. A number that cannot be sourced does not appear.
Each adjustment on its own line
Every add-back is shown separately and marked as supported today or waiting on a specific document, so a counterparty can accept or reject each one.
Nothing arrives half finished
Materials are delivered ready to send to the counterparty rather than as drafts for another round of edits, and anything still open is listed as open.
The Principal reviews every deliverable
Scope, judgment and final review stay with the Principal from the first analysis to closing, and nothing goes to a client before that review.
03. Working Together
The practical terms.
Confidentiality
Every engagement begins under a mutual non-disclosure agreement, and client information is kept in access-restricted systems.
Scope and fees
Fees are a monthly retainer or a fixed project fee, matched to the mandate. On a change-of-control transaction, the structure is a retainer with a success component paid at closing.
Under your brand
Where the mandate belongs to a bank or advisor, the work is delivered unbranded and integrates into their process, their materials, and their client relationship.
Turnaround
The firm uses quantitative and AI-assisted tools to run the scenarios a transaction needs within its timetable.
Scope and fees agreed in writing before work begins.
