Vendor Due Diligence

Maximie­ren Sie Ihren Verkaufserfolg!

Die Vendor Due Diligence (VDD) ist entschei­dend im Unter­nehmens­verkauf und bietet Verkäu­fern einen strate­gi­schen Vorteil. Durch unabhän­gi­ge Dritte erfolgt eine objek­ti­ve Bewer­tung und Analy­se des Unter­neh­mens, um Chancen und Risiken zu identi­fi­zie­ren. VDD geht über tradi­tio­nel­le Due Diligence Prüfun­gen hinaus und gewähr­leis­tet Trans­pa­renz. Diese proak­ti­ve Heran­ge­hens­wei­se verbes­sert die Kommu­ni­ka­ti­on und beschleu­nigt den Verkaufsprozess.

Im Gegen­satz zur Buy Side Due Diligence, die die Sorgfalt des Käufers betont, unter­streicht die VDD die Inter­es­sen des Verkäu­fers. Diese Vorge­hens­wei­se optimiert M&A Trans­ak­tio­nen und erhöht die Wahrschein­lich­keit eines erfolg­rei­chen Abschlusses.

Nachfol­gend werden wir die grund­le­gen­den Prinzi­pi­en der Vendor Due Diligence, ihren Umfang und die spezi­fi­schen Inhal­te, die in Betracht gezogen werden sollten, näher betrach­ten. Außer­dem erfah­ren Sie, wann eine VDD sinnvoll ist und welche Vortei­le sie konkret bietet.

Die Vendor Due Diligence im Kurzüberblick:

• Basic princi­ple: Vendor due diligence is a decisi­ve step in the process of Compa­ny sale, initia­ted by the sellerto enable a trans­pa­rent and objec­ti­ve evalua­ti­on of the compa­ny prior to acquisition.
• Flexi­bi­li­ty in scopeThe The level of detail of the VDD is custo­mi­sable and is deter­mi­ned by the seller accor­ding to the needs and strate­gic objec­ti­ves of the compa­ny acqui­si­ti­on. This enables a custo­mi­sed presen­ta­ti­on of the company.
• Purpo­se and benefitsThe aim of the VDD is to provi­de a compre­hen­si­ve and in-depth insight into the compa­ny in order to the sales positi­on to streng­then and Poten­ti­al risks for the acqui­si­ti­on at minimi­se. Ergän­zend hierzu liefert die Commer­cial Due Diligence wertvol­le Infor­ma­tio­nen über Markt­be­din­gun­gen und Wettbewerbsumfeld.
• Addres­seesThe results of the VDD are provi­ded speci­fi­cal­ly to poten­ti­al buyers or as part of auction proce­du­resto speed up the acqui­si­ti­on process and support the decis­i­on-making process of interes­ted parties.

What is Vendor Due Diligence?

A vendor due diligence is a compa­ny audit that is carri­ed out for a compa­ny for sale by the seller. before the Compa­ny sale is carri­ed out.

The audit is carri­ed out by the seller’s appoin­ted advisors, who should, however, be indepen­dent. The extent to which the VDD is carri­ed out and the exact areas of the compa­ny to be audited are left to the seller’s discre­ti­on. As a rule, a “neutral” audit is certified.

Durch die Vendor Due Diligence sollen die Strengths and weakne­s­ses of the compa­ny revea­led be made. This gives the seller the oppor­tu­ni­ty to compen­sa­te for possi­ble weakne­s­ses in advan­ce, if neces­sa­ry, and the buyer quick­ly gets a good overview of the compa­ny. The VDD is also well suited for a paral­lel bidding process.

Vortei­le der Vendor Due Diligence

• Through the Due Diligence Report, the seller can Identi­fy weak points in his compa­ny and elimi­na­te thembefore the buyer under­ta­kes a possi­ble exten­ded inspection.

• The effort for the buyer side is reduced and thus the process of selling the compa­ny can be facili­ta­ted and accelerated.

• By identi­fy­ing weak points or grievan­ces early on, the seller can Go into sales negotia­ti­ons better prepared and argue better accor­din­gly.

• The chance of finding a buyer more quick­ly is higher, as the buyer has the oppor­tu­ni­ty to get a good overview of the compa­ny for sale at an early stage and this provi­des him with a corre­spon­ding degree of securi­ty without having to trigger an exten­si­ve DD process himself immediately.

• The Transac­tion process of the sale is accele­ra­tedas the buyer does not have to carry out an inspec­tion to this extent by the VDD itself; this saves time.

Learn in our webinar which further measu­res are crucial for an effec­ti­ve business sale:

Vendor Due Diligence Inhal­te: Finan­zi­el­le, Steuer­li­che und Recht­li­che Aspekte

Vendor due diligence is often prepared accor­ding to the thema­tic areas of a company.

Da zum Zeitpunkt der Beauf­tra­gung des Vendor Due Diligence Reports die mögli­chen Kaufin­ter­es­sen­ten und deren spezi­fi­scher Fokus noch nicht bekannt ist, besteht die Vendor Due Diligence häufig aus der Finan­cial, Tax and Legal Due Diligence. Supple­men­ted, if neces­sa­ry, by Market and Environ­men­tal (environ­men­tal risks).

Since the project commis­sio­ned by the buyer Due Diligence and the VDD are similar in their basic struc­tu­re, we would like to present our Due Diligence Checklist:

Finan­cial Due Diligence

Finan­cial due diligence deals in detail with the finan­ces of the compa­ny. This invol­ves both the Current finan­cial situa­ti­on as well as future finan­cial develo­p­ment.

Tax Due Diligence

Tax due diligence presents the tax situa­ti­on of the compa­ny, identi­fies tax risks and thus helps to create a tax-optimi­sed struc­tu­re for the sale of a compa­ny. and to limit risks in the future after the sale.

Legal Due Diligence

During legal due diligence, all legal struc­tures of the compa­ny to be sold are exami­ned. The subject of the legal due diligence is above all Share­hol­ders’ agree­ment, owner­ship and contracts with staff and suppli­ers.

Umfang der Vendor Due Diligence

The VDD can be carri­ed out in diffe­rent ways. The seller can have a detail­ed report prepared on the indivi­du­al areas or only a descrip­ti­ve fact bookwhat is to be presen­ted to the prospec­ti­ve buyers.

The Fact Book will then be made available to poten­ti­al buyers. Together with the Non-Reliance Letter handed out.

Fact Book

Der Bericht der Vendor Due Diligence wird häufig als Fact Book bezeich­net. Das ist meist nur ein deskrip­ti­ver Bericht der VDD. Dieses Fact Book wird den Kaufin­ter­es­sen­ten zu Beginn der Verhand­lun­gen vorge­legt. Das Fact Book provi­des a trans­pa­rent and well-founded overview of the compa­ny for sale.

In additi­on, there is the advan­ta­ge here that not all of the company’s sensi­ti­ve data has to be disclo­sed. Through the Descrip­ti­ve design of the Fact Book the buyer recei­ves a Sound and trans­pa­rent overview of the compa­nybut not sensi­ti­ve details.

Especi­al­ly if the compa­ny is to be sold in an auction process, the Fact Book from the VDD is indis­pensable and has now become standard.

Non-Reliance Letter

A Non-Reliance Letter is the English term for a contrac­tu­al disclai­mer.

The Non-Reliance Letter is handed out to bidders in an auction proce­du­re with the Fact Book and must be signed by them.

The Non-Reliance Letter includes a Bidders’ reliance on the accura­cy and comple­ten­ess of the VDD reportof the Fact Book.

Erstel­lung und Verant­wort­lich­kei­ten der Vendor Dud Diligence

Vendor due diligence is general­ly carri­ed out before the sale of a compa­ny. As a rule, it is alrea­dy carri­ed out when the sale of the compa­ny is planned but there are no prospec­ti­ve buyers yet.

In order to get as reali­stic a pictu­re of the compa­ny as possi­ble and to gain the trust of poten­ti­al buyers, the Vendor due diligence by an indepen­dent third party, a lawyer, auditor or tax advisor carri­ed out.

The report that is then prepared is issued to the poten­ti­al buyers as a so-called Fact Book. In additi­on, the prospec­ti­ve buyers recei­ve the Non-Reliance Letter.

As experi­en­ced advisors in matters of Compa­ny sale we will be happy to assist you with our expertise.

When does VDD make sense for sellers?

Vendor due diligence can be useful for the seller for several reasons. VDD is parti­cu­lar­ly useful if, for examp­le, the seller wants to provi­de identi­cal frame­work condi­ti­ons in a bidding process and wants to increase the pace by provi­ding compre­hen­si­ve data.

Durch das frühzei­ti­ge Erstel­len einer Vendor Due Diligence hat der Verkäu­fer die Möglich­keit Be better prepared for sales negotia­ti­ons and to be able to argue better. The indepen­dent audit report makes him aware of the possi­ble weakne­s­ses from a buyer’s point of view.

The seller thus has the possi­bi­li­ty to to consider in advan­ce appro­pria­te measu­res to optimi­se his business and to present these accor­din­gly during the sales negotiations.

A VDD is also parti­cu­lar­ly useful if the seller intends to sell his compa­ny in an auction or bidding process. In this case, the vendor due diligence report can be the be made available to bidders as a basis for infor­ma­ti­on.

This approach saves the poten­ti­al buyers the finan­cial effort and human resour­ces, as they do not have to carry out due diligence themsel­ves before they have even bid on the company.

Conclu­si­on

Vendor due diligence can make sense for the seller and provi­des him with some advan­ta­ges. At the same time, this type of approach is also cost-inten­si­ve and does not guaran­tee a sale at the price desired by the seller.

The VDD evalua­tes the compa­ny neutral­ly and reveals both positi­ve aspects and grievan­ces. This gives the seller the oppor­tu­ni­ty to react at an early stage and streng­thens him in the sales negotia­ti­ons..

Gerade für Verkäu­fer, die Zeit sparen möchten, ein Bieter­ver­fah­ren planen und vorab im Detail noch besser die Schwä­chen ihrer Unter­neh­mung von Dritten aufge­zeigt bekom­men möchten, könnten mit der Vendor Due Diligence einen guten Weg beschreiten.

If the seller commis­si­ons a VDD and hands out the fact book to the poten­ti­al buyers, this also creates confi­dence on the buyer side and also saves the buyer the cost and effort of first carry­ing out an inspec­tion himself.

This Ultim­ate­ly accele­ra­tes the transac­tion process and reinforces a positi­ve outco­me.