Pre-transaction due diligence – Real estate sector

Background: The Client was considering the takeover of a real estate company. The Client was already in touch with the Subject company and had obtained the company’s records, financial statements, etc. However, the Client wanted to make sure that they were taking risks by entering a business relationship with this company and mandated our consultants to conduct a due diligence.

Results: OSINT searches confirmed all information already held by the Client. However, HUMINT enquiries with the Subject company’s former employees revealed some serious areas of concern:

  • Falsification of financial accounts and data (number of employees, cashflow, etc.)
  • Cashflow issues
  • Criminal sentence for the founder of the company (personally involved in a scandal)

The transaction was subsequently cancelled.