NON-DISCLOSURE CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENTS, THE ACQUISITION PROFILE AND THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

It is most appropriate to have targeted buyers sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) or a Confidentiality Agreement (CA) before exchanging sensitive information regarding a seller’s potential acquisition target. Will the potential buyers sign? It depends, most times it will be signed; sometimes only after negotiating various details; potentially slowing down the sale process.

A carefully crafted Acquisition Profile (AP) and Executive Summary (ES) by the seller and M&A professional may be used to bridge the time delay between approaching a targeted buyer, establishing their level of interest and their signing of the non-disclosure confidentiality agreements. The AP and ES must achieve the proper balance of disclosing enough company information to establish buyer interest; however, not so many details as to unmask the company before the potential buyers sign the NDA or CA.

The Acquisition Profile and Executive Summary may include; company highlights, overview, services, client base and sales territory, acquisition considerations, desired transaction, and financial information summary. In cooperation with one another, the seller and the M&A professional must decide on the best approach given the unique circumstances of the sale process.