Commercial Due Diligence FAQ
Fourteen Q&As pulled from search People-Also-Ask on commercial due diligence.
Fourteen common questions on UK commercial due diligence answered below: cost, timeline, scope, who runs it, how it differs from financial DD and QofE.
1. What is commercial due diligence?
Commercial due diligence is the independent commercial review a buyer (or seller) commissions before signing an M&A deal. It tests whether revenue is real, repeatable and defensible. See the cover page.
2. How much does commercial due diligence cost in the UK?
UK boutique mandates cluster £15-50k; Big-4 deal advisory £75-250k. See fees.
3. How long does commercial due diligence take?
Boutique 3-5 weeks; Big-4 5-8 weeks; red-flag 2-3 weeks. See playbook.
4. What are the seven chapters of a CDD report?
Market, customer, competitive, operations, financial-commercial bridge, risk, synthesis. See chapters.
5. How does CDD differ from financial DD and QofE?
QofE tests reported numbers against accounting standards. CDD tests whether revenue is commercially real and durable. See chapter V.
6. Who commissions CDD?
Buy-side: sponsor or trade buyer. Sell-side: seller, via vendor CDD. See types.
7. When should I commission red-flag CDD vs full CDD?
Red-flag is the no-go gate before full mandate. See red-flag.
8. What is vendor commercial due diligence?
Sell-side commissioned CDD with reliance letters to shortlisted bidders. See VCDD.
9. Which UK firms run commercial due diligence?
Boutiques: Lighthouse, OC&C, L.E.K., PMSI, Armstrong, Candesic, CIL, Eight. Big-4 deal-advisory units of Deloitte, KPMG, EY, PwC. See providers.
10. Boutique or Big-4: who do I instruct for a £40-80m bolt-on?
Boutique by default; Big-4 where lender or chair requires institutional cover. See big-4 vs boutique.
11. How many customer interviews should CDD run?
15-20 for full mandate; below 10 the chapter is hard to defend. See chapter II.
12. What is a CDD risk register?
A tracker of every red flag the diligence surfaces, scored red/amber/green. See risk register template.
13. Can I download CDD templates?
All four templates here are on-page, no download wall. See templates.
14. Who wrote this site and what is the editorial position?
Oliver Wakefield-Smith, Founder of Digital Signet. Independent reference; no provider sponsorship. See about.