Two weeks to know what you're actually buying.
Most M&A horror stories — failed integrations, surprise tech debt, six-month outages — come from skipping or rushing technical diligence. We deliver a structured 2-week technical assessment of the target: stack, team, contracts, risks, and what real integration will cost.
What goes wrong without proper diligence.
Target's stack is 5 years out of date.
Discovered post-close. Modernization cost wipes out the deal's projected synergies.
Critical software is on a single developer's personal laptop.
Bus factor of one. They quit during integration. No documentation. Years of work to reconstruct.
Cyber-insurance gap.
Target had no MFA, no EDR, no SOC. Acquirer's insurance won't cover the combined entity until you fix it. 90 days, no coverage.
Auto-renewing contracts we can't get out of.
Target locked in to a 5-year ERP contract three months before close. $400k/year you can't reduce.
What's included.
- 01
Technology stack review
Every system, every cloud account, every SaaS app. Modern vs. legacy. Maintained vs. abandoned. Documented vs. tribal knowledge.
- 02
Engineering team assessment
Senior strength. Key-person risk. Cultural fit. Retention concerns. Documented.
- 03
Security posture review
Identity, endpoints, network, cloud. Critical findings called out. Insurance implications flagged.
- 04
Contract + spend audit
Every major tech contract, renewal date, exit options. Total cost of ownership reconciled.
- 05
Integration cost estimate
What it costs to bring the target onto acquirer infrastructure: hours, dollars, calendar months, risk.
- 06
Written report + readout
Board-ready report. Verbal walkthrough with the deal team and acquirer leadership.
The 2-week diligence sprint.
- Day 1
Kickoff + access
Diligence team formed. Read-only access to target's systems requested. NDA in place.
- Days 2–5
Discovery
Interviews with target's CTO, IT, and key engineers. Stack inventory. Contract review.
- Days 6–9
Analysis
Assess each finding for materiality and risk. Build integration cost model. Identify deal-breakers if any.
- Days 10–12
Report + readout
Written report finalized. Verbal walkthrough with acquirer leadership. Q&A session.
- Day 14
Wrap
Q&A follow-ups answered. Findings handed off to integration team.
Tiers of diligence depth.
Choose based on deal size and risk tolerance.
| Light (1 week) | Standard (2 weeks) | Deep (4 weeks) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stack inventory | Yes | Yes | Yes + dependency mapping |
| Team interviews | CTO only | CTO + 3 leads | CTO + 8+ engineers |
| Security posture | High-level | Posture scan | Full audit |
| Contract review | Top 10 | All material | All material + legal sync |
| Integration cost model | Range estimate | Costed plan | Quarterly-bucketed plan |
| Typical fee | $20–35k | $45–90k | $120–200k |
Track record.
From kickoff to written report. Reliable across deal sizes.
Of diligence engagements delivered within commitment window.
Of engagements where findings caused acquirer to renegotiate price. Pays for the engagement many times over.
On our diligence — clients have never discovered a major issue post-close that we missed pre-close.
“We were ready to close on a $40M acquisition. Senator's diligence found three issues we hadn't surfaced — including a $2.5M integration cost we'd missed. Renegotiated the price, the deal still closed, and we avoided buying a problem.”
Who needs this.
- PE acquirers in technology, professional services, healthcare.
- Corporate acquirers in any deal where technology is material to value.
- Targets preparing for sale — pre-diligence finds and fixes the obvious problems.
- Acquirers in the second integration after one that went badly.
Q01How fast can you start?
How fast can you start?
Most engagements start within 5 business days of kickoff. We hold capacity for active deals.
Q02Do you do post-close integration work too?
Do you do post-close integration work too?
Yes — many clients move from diligence into integration. Same team. Continuity is helpful.
Q03What if the target's leadership is uncooperative?
What if the target's leadership is uncooperative?
We work with what we can access. The report flags what we couldn't verify. Limited access is itself a finding.
Q04Do you sign NDAs and adhere to deal-specific confidentiality?
Do you sign NDAs and adhere to deal-specific confidentiality?
Yes — and we operate with information barriers between deal teams. Standard practice.
Free 30-minute deal-scoping call.
Tell us about the deal. Industry, size, timeline. We'll tell you which diligence tier fits and a fixed-fee quote within 24 hours.