M&A · Target diligence

Buy with eyes open. Pre-SPA target diligence across the jurisdictions that actually matter

In M&A, an acquirer doesn't pay for page count. The acquirer pays for jurisdictional coverage. UA registries are only the start. Real risk lives in EU/UK/UAE links and public offshore leaks: a hidden UBO, a mirror entity abroad, a litigation or regulatory history the SPA warranty won't cover. We pull it all into one VDR-ready report with a READY / CAUTION / STOP verdict — before you sign.

From $1,800. Scope — from UA plus one jurisdiction to unlimited cross-border with crypto.

M&A Lite
$1,800
⏱ 5–7 business days
  • UA plus one jurisdiction of your choice
  • Standard Report — corporate history, beneficiaries, debts, Argus Score
  • UBO Deep Trace — through nominees and the holding chain down to a real person
  • 3-year litigation history for the target and its key persons
  • Asset baseline: main declared assets with source
  • Regulatory history: licenses, revocations, penalties
  • PDF 25–30 pages + raw sources as a separate archive
Order M&A Lite
Recommended
M&A Standard
$2,800
⏱ 7–10 business days
  • Everything in M&A Lite
  • UA plus three jurisdictions of your choice (EU / UK / UAE / other)
  • GEOSINT on production and warehouse assets — satellite, web archive, photo trail
  • Sanctions / PEP screening of beneficiaries against OFAC / EU / UK / UN / NSDC
  • Cross-jurisdiction links: mirror entities, shared UBO, overlapping directors
  • 1-hour Q&A session for the VDR with the buyer's lawyer or dealmaker
  • PDF 30–40 pages + raw sources archive + READY / CAUTION / STOP verdict
Order M&A Standard
M&A Cross-Border
$3,500+
⏱ 10–14 business days
  • Everything in M&A Standard
  • Unlimited jurisdictions — every country actually linked to the target
  • Crypto-tracing of beneficiaries — when public wallets exist and matter for the deal
  • Intercompany flow analysis — how money and assets move between group entities
  • Pre-closing risk memo — structured risks, recommended SPA warranties, escrow scenario
  • Executive Summary for the dealmaker + 1-hour call with the buyer's lawyer
Discuss
What we find

Six risk layers covered by M&A Target Check

01 · Corporate veil & UBO

Hidden beneficiaries

We get past nominees, trusts and the holding chain to the real person behind the target. Often the seller you meet at the table is not the one who controls the company — and the controller never appears in the VDR.

02 · Litigation & enforcement

Litigation history

Three years of disputes on the target and its key persons across every jurisdiction in scope: tax, labour, counterparty claims, criminal proceedings. One quiet $400K filing the seller forgot to mention and your SPA warranty won't cover the gap.

03 · Sanctions & war-time exposure

Sanctions and Russia / Belarus links

Screening of the target, beneficiaries and key counterparties against OFAC, EU, UK, UN and NSDC lists — including silent exposure: shared UBO with a sanctioned party, an RU or BY supplier in the chain, assets in sanctioned jurisdictions, war-time transit routes.

04 · Financial health

Undisclosed liabilities

Off-balance debts, personal guarantees of the founder secured by company assets, tax notices, regulatory fines, suppliers pursuing payment. The signals sit in registries and public filings, not in the data room the seller curated for you.

05 · Asset map

Real estate, equity, vehicles, foreign holdings

The flip side: assets parked with affiliates before the deal. Production lines, real estate and IP that are formally off the company — and surface in a separate structure six months after closing. We cross-check the real-world footprint via GEOSINT against what the VDR claims.

06 · Regulatory & operational

Regulatory warnings

Licenses, revocations, fines, warnings from sector regulators and market watchdogs — in UA and in every involved jurisdiction. If the target already holds a regulatory yellow card, post-deal it becomes the acquirer's problem to clean up.

How it works

Four steps under the standard Intelligence Cycle

01 · BRIEF
Scope and jurisdictions
A 30-minute call with the buyer's lawyer or dealmaker: deal size, jurisdiction list, risks to close out separately. Scope and deadline are locked before we start.
02 · COLLECT
Layered collection
Six layers in parallel: corporate registries, UBO, litigation and regulatory history, assets and GEOSINT, sanctions lists, public offshore leaks. Every source goes in with a timestamped screenshot.
03 · VERIFY
Cross-verification
Every fact is cross-checked against at least two independent sources. We assign an Argus Score from 0 to 100 and a verdict — READY / CAUTION / STOP — with the specific findings that pulled it down.
04 · VERDICT
VDR-ready output
A 25–40 page PDF with raw sources as a separate archive, a 1-hour call with the buyer's lawyer, and — for Cross-Border — a pre-closing risk memo with recommended SPA warranties and an escrow scenario.
More on the Intelligence Cycle methodology →
The verdict

One word that tells the deal team what to do next

Every report closes with one of three verdicts plus the Argus Score, so the dealmaker and the buyer's counsel know within seconds whether to move, structure around the risk, or walk away.

READY
Sign the SPA as drafted
No material findings. Argus Score 70–100. Move to closing on standard warranties. You get the report plus a 1-hour Q&A for the VDR to defend it internally.
CAUTION
Structure around the finding
Specific issues that should not stop the deal but must reshape it: a targeted SPA warranty, an escrow holdback, a price chip, or a representation carve-out. We list each finding with the recommended structural response.
STOP
Walk away or restart
Hidden UBO in a sanctioned jurisdiction, undisclosed litigation that swallows enterprise value, asset stripping before closing. Argus Score below 35. The report tells the dealmaker exactly what to show the IC.
📁
VDR-ready. Every report ships as a clean PDF with a structured executive summary, source citations, timestamped screenshots and a separate raw-sources archive. The acquirer can drop it straight into the deal data room and hand it to the buyer's counsel, lender or limited partner without rework.
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Why it pays off

$2,800 for the report vs $500K post-closing price adjustment

  • The standard price of an M&A surprise is 5–15% of deal value. On a $5M deal that's $250K–$750K out of the acquirer's pocket
  • The most expensive surprises — undisclosed litigation, a parallel UBO in a sanctioned jurisdiction, a key asset stripped before the deal
  • Catching that risk before SPA signing is either a price chip in the acquirer's favour, a justified escrow, or walking away without losing money
  • If we find zero critical risks, the verdict comes back clean READY and the Q&A session for the VDR replaces the sleepless night before closing
Order the check
⚖️
This is intelligence analysis, not legal advice. Argus Intel works exclusively with publicly available information — state registries, corporate databases, sanctions lists, open offshore leaks, the public blockchain. The report delivers a fact layer and a risk assessment. Final negotiation, SPA warranties, indemnity carve-outs, escrow structuring and reps & warranties are for the acquirer's M&A counsel. The admissibility of any specific fact in a dispute is decided by the court or arbitral tribunal.
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Order M&A Target Check

Describe the deal in two sentences — we'll suggest the depth level that's actually needed for the SPA timeline and give a rough risk read before we start.

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Thanks — request received

We'll get in touch via your chosen channel within 24 hours with scope, price and timing. Urgent? Reach out directly — @argus_int

How we work →
Name, registration number or website of the target. Under NDA? You can skip the name and describe the deal in the field below.
Country of registration plus any other jurisdiction the target is actually linked to (operations, assets, UBO).
Calibrates our turnaround. Final-negotiation jobs get prioritized; pre-LOI work gets a wider scope.
Sector, approximate SPA deadline, what you've already seen in the VDR, top concerns.
Contacts — one is enough
At least one — email or Telegram. We'll reply on whichever you prefer. NDA on request.

By submitting, you agree to data processing for a one-time reply. We work from open sources only. NDA on request.

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