What information should I include in a due diligence pack when selling my business?

Commercially astute legal advice is vital to secure the best return for all your years of hard work building up the business.

Deciding what information should be included in your due diligence pack is vital for maximising returns. When deciding what information should be included you should consider the following questions:

• Marketing the Business – when marketing the sale of the business what information should be included in the marketing material? How do you protect commercially sensitive information contained in the due diligence pack and ensure that that this information is not disclosed to rivals?
• Financial Accounts – do the last 3 years financial accounts presented to potential purchasers contain a true and correct picture of the company's profitability or are their personal expenses (which reduce) the profit recorded in the accounts?
• Valuation of the Business – what is the methodology used by the valuer to value the business? Will a valuer assess your business at a figure similar to your asking price?
• Imputation Credits – are there any imputation credits or other tax losses which should be used up before the income stream of the business is lost?
• Lease – what are the landlord's requirement to assign the lease e.g. respectable purchaser with the financial resources to meet the tenant's commitments under the lease. Alternatively, if you own the business premises what lease terms should be offered to the successful purchaser?
• Licence Agreements – are there any licence agreements or other licence agency agreements that are coming to an end which should be renewed prior to offering the business for sale?