DRAFT v0.1 / FILE REF CDD/2026/UK-MID-MKT / INDEPENDENT REFERENCE - NOT M&A ADVICE
§ CHAPTER VII
VII.

Synthesis

Chapter VII of the seven-chapter CDD spine.

§ DIRECT ANSWER

Chapter VII of the CDD spine: Synthesis. The chapter answers the IC’s primary question for this leg of diligence and cites the primary UK sources it draws on. Source: ICAEW Corporate Finance Faculty; BVCA Industry Activity.

Chapter VII stress-tests the investment thesis and crafts the one-page IC executive summary. The summary stands on three claims, each citing the chapter that evidences it. If the chair cannot follow the logic in 90 seconds, the summary is broken.

§ 1.1Thesis stress-test

Restate the sponsor’s pre-CDD thesis in one paragraph. List the three claims it depends on. Show the chapter evidence that supports each. Flag any unsupported claim explicitly.

§ 1.2One-page IC summary

See /templates/ic-summary-slide/ for the format.

§ 1.3Broken thesis

Where chapter VI carries an unresolvable red, synthesis flags the thesis as fundamentally broken and recommends withdrawal from process.

VERIFIED 21 JUN 2026NEXT REVIEW 21 SEP 2026SRC: ICAEW CF; BVCA Industry Activity 2025-26

Marked-up by Oliver Wakefield-Smith. Draft v0.1, 21 June 2026.