The Acquisition Dossier

The board has approved a $1.4B acquisition target. Diligence kicks off Monday; the LOI lapses in seven business days. You have seven diligence moves before you have to put a recommendation in front of the board. Seven hidden red flags are buried across the target. Two years after close, every flag you missed comes back as either a class-action complaint or a quarterly earnings hit — in the board minutes you signed off on.