Every acquisition or sale of a business rests on a single question: is the asset really worth its price. Due diligence answers it — a comprehensive review of the company after which the buyer knows exactly what is being bought, and the seller can defend the price with facts. The Kanzas company provides due diligence and pre-sale preparation services in Ukraine, drawing on more than twenty years of practice in this kind of work: our habit is not to describe assets but to prove what stands behind them.
What due diligence covers
Due diligence is the systematic review of a company ahead of a transaction — an investment, acquisition, sale, merger or financing round. Its purpose is to establish the real financial position of the business and to surface hidden liabilities and tax and legal risks before time or a counterparty does. For the buyer, due diligence is insurance against overpaying and post-closing surprises; for the seller, it is the chance to prepare the company so that the buyer's review does not destroy the price.
The scope: financial, tax, legal and technical due diligence
A full diagnostic of a business combines several interlocking workstreams:
- financial due diligence — quality of revenue and earnings, debt and working capital structure, the substance behind balance sheet assets;
- tax due diligence — correctness of accruals, exposure to reassessments and penalties, settlements with the budget, controlled transactions;
- legal due diligence — corporate structure and title to shares, title documents for assets, the contract base, litigation and encumbrances;
- technical due diligence — the physical condition of property complexes, equipment and real estate that stand behind the balance sheet figures.
The scope follows the purpose of the transaction: acquiring a stake may require a single focus, while the sale of an entire business calls for the full package.
Vendor due diligence and pre-sale preparation
A seller who comes to the table unprepared almost always loses on price: every risk the buyer finds becomes a discount. Pre-sale preparation changes that logic. We run the review on the seller's side in advance, find the weak points first, help fix them or price them honestly into the negotiating position — and assemble the complete document package with which the business goes to market. The buyer receives a transparent asset; the seller, a defensible price and a faster deal.
Buy-side due diligence in M&A
For the buyer we answer three questions: what actually makes up the asset, what liabilities and risks travel with it, and whether it is worth acquiring. A buy-side review ends with a due diligence report, including a risk map with the impact of each finding on value — a document to take into price negotiations, or the basis for walking away before the deal becomes an expensive mistake.
Track record: from a bank to a healthcare business
The most telling engagements of this practice are the complete pre-sale preparation of one of Ukraine's banks — the full document package for a transaction in the country's most heavily regulated industry — and the pre-sale preparation of a Ukrainian medical centre, a business whose value rests on licences, equipment and reputation at once. Two industries opposite in nature, finance and healthcare, illustrate the range within which the methodology works. The team's international practice includes engagements connected with contributions of assets to the capital of US companies.
The due diligence report
The deliverable is a structured report: the actual state of the company across every workstream, the identified risks graded by materiality and impact on value, and recommendations for remediation.
Frequently asked questions
How does due diligence differ from an audit? An audit confirms that past financial statements comply with accounting standards. Due diligence looks wider and forward: the real quality of assets and earnings, hidden liabilities, and the transaction risks that affect price.
How long does due diligence take? From two to three weeks for a company with a simple structure to two or three months for a group or a regulated business. The timeline is driven by the volume of documentation and the depth of review.
When should a seller start pre-sale preparation? Ideally three to six months before the planned transaction: enough time not only to find the weak points but to fix them. Preparation "a week before the buyer arrives" protects far less.
Is due diligence needed when acquiring a stake rather than the whole business? Yes — and the legal workstream above all: title to the stake, shareholder agreements and the powers of governing bodies are where minority and majority conflict risks most often hide.
A business transaction is no place for assumptions. Write to us by email or messenger to discuss the deal: we work fast, confidentially and in the interest of your position in the transaction.
