How should a seller prepare for an M&A buyer site visit?

What should a seller prepare for a buyer site visit?

Prepare a one-page systems map, consistent answers about where records live, screens cleared of confidential data, and a short list of people who will speak. The visit is where a buyer checks whether the CIM matches reality and how deep the team is. Expect buyers to test the story and probe team depth, so every answer should match the CIM.

This checklist is for M&A advisors. The systems map you build for the visit doubles as the first draft of a data inventory.

How should the day be structured?

Buyer motives and questions you can ask in return are in questions to ask a buyer.

What belongs on the pre-visit checklist?

People

• Choose three to five speakers and rehearse who answers what
• Brief all staff who may meet the buyer on what not to discuss
• Decide who answers questions on key employees and retention
• Time the announcement to staff carefully, as covered in when to tell employees you are selling

Documents

• A management deck whose figures match the CIM line by line
• A one-page org chart by function
• A list of open items you expect to be asked about
• A visitor log and NDA records

Premises and screens

• Clear whiteboards, wall displays and printers of customer names and pricing
• Lock screens and use demo or training accounts for any live system demonstration
• Remove personal data from anything visible on a monitor
• Mask customer names in dashboards shown on a wall or large display

Security

• Guest Wi-Fi separate from internal networks
• Escort rule for any visitor in server or records areas
• A security summary ready; compare it with the cybersecurity due diligence checklist

Sector variants exist: see the staffing agency checklist and the manufacturing checklist for what buyers inspect in those industries. Software teams can also use the guide to choosing a software M&A advisor.

What goes on the one-page systems map?

List every system where business records live, with the owner and the date range it covers. Keep it to facts.

Strong companies keep records across many systems, such as email, Slack or Teams, shared drives, CRM, finance, support, engineering and operations, and most strong companies have 10-15+ systems. Long histories and archived systems help. Every answer a team member gives about where records live should match this map.

How does the map become a data inventory?

The same list is the start of a data inventory for a licensing conversation. The data inventory builder helps list systems and record types, but it describes systems, never the records themselves. Qualification starts at 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded), years of documented operations, rights to license and an authorized sponsor; read who qualifies, try the company fit checker for a preliminary, non-binding screen, and follow the first referral preparation checklist before you make an introduction.

Partners share basic fit information only and never handle or describe confidential records; the company stays the owner of its data and is bound only when it signs.

What do partners earn?

Partners earn 25% of the eligible platform fees SourceX actually collects from the referred company's licensing deals, capped at $100,000 cumulative per referred company, and a reward becomes payable only after the buyer pays and SourceX receives its fee. Rewards are not guaranteed. The partner reward is a share of SourceX's fee and is never deducted from what the company receives. Check your own firm's rules on referral fees and disclosure. The M&A advisor page and the buyer list guide give the wider advisor context.

When is it not worth raising?

Skip it if the company does not meet the size baseline or if the owner's attention is fully on a closing deadline.

Next step

Register as a partner for a referral link. Owners can apply at sourcex.si/apply.