What would be the top 20 questions you would want to ask a potential
acquisition target during a one hour feeling out meeting to determine
if they are sound, what their risk factors are, and how do they see
the benefits of merging being optimized. Deal is worth 10 million USD.

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Clarification of Question by hemisphere123-ga on 06 Jul 2004 10:39 PDT

Let me clarify - this is the first time I've used this format so be
patient (grin!) I know a lot about them (the target) and what they do.
I can answer 15 of the questions below by myself on their behalf. I
guess what I want is some "zingers" that will open up the discussion -
I like the one about CV's I hadnt thought of that before. Ones like
that.

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Clarification of Question by hemisphere123-ga on 16 Jul 2004 07:22 PDT

Indeed - I guess Im looking for some of the more esoteric ones that
wouldnt be obvious even to me!

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Request for Question Clarification by omnivorous-ga on 16 Jul 2004 07:45 PDT

Hemisphere --

You might benefit by reading the answer that I'd written to a
mergers/acquisitions question.  It's a good overview of what studies
have shown works -- and what causes an acquisition to fail.  While it
isn't necessarily a cookbook to take you from initial contact through
due diligence, it is a good look at how the process has worked over
the past 40-50 years in Western economies.

I found the last section on improving the success rate of M&A activity
particularly interesting because it's research that's been done over
the past 10 years:
Google Answers
"Finance and Growth Strategies," (Omnivorous-GA, April 23, 2004)
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=334400

After that we can get back to 20 questions. . .

Best regards,

O.

1	Why are you selling?
2	What are you going to do next?
3	Who are your key managers?
4	Can I see their cvs?
5	Will they stay?
6	What are they earning?
7	Do they know you are planning to sell out?
8	Who are your key customers?
9	What makes your company their favoured supplier?
10	Who owns the property?
11	What are the terms of the lease (if any)?
12	Any litigation pending?
13	Will you be able to give the ?usual warranties??
14	Who?s acting for you?
15	Can I see your latest financials?
16	And your Business Plan?
17	Can I have a look round?
18	If you hadn?t decided to sell, how would you propose to develop the business?
19	Who are your main competitors?
20	How do see business prospects for the next 5 years?

Good Luck!

Aha! You've changed the Question ... First you wanted the Top 20 and
now you want the Top 20 that you haven't already thought of ...

Well, that's perfectly OK but this could go on for years unless you
provide a wee bit of help, like identifying those that you have
already listed.

Over to you!