{"skill":{"slug":"afrexai-ma-diligence","displayName":"M&A Due Diligence","summary":"Conduct a comprehensive AI-augmented M&A due diligence covering financial, operational, legal, cultural, technology, and AI readiness with scored assessments...","description":"# M&A Due Diligence — AI-Augmented Assessment\n\nRun a structured due diligence analysis on any acquisition target. Covers financial, operational, technology, legal, cultural, and AI/automation readiness dimensions.\n\n## When to Use\n- Evaluating an acquisition target\n- Preparing sell-side due diligence materials\n- Assessing a merger partner\n- Running post-LOI deep dive\n- Investor or board due diligence request\n\n## How to Use\n\nTell your agent: \"Run M&A due diligence on [Company Name]\" or \"Prepare due diligence for acquiring [target].\"\n\nThe agent will walk through each dimension below and produce a scored assessment with red flags, deal-breakers, and a go/no-go recommendation.\n\n## Due Diligence Framework\n\n### 1. Financial Health (Weight: 30%)\n\n**Revenue Quality Score (0-100)**\n| Factor | Weight | Check |\n|--------|--------|-------|\n| Revenue concentration | 25% | Top client <15% of revenue = green, >30% = red |\n| Recurring vs one-time | 25% | >70% recurring = green, <40% = red |\n| Revenue growth trend | 20% | 3-year CAGR >15% = green, declining = red |\n| Gross margin | 15% | >60% SaaS / >40% services = green |\n| Cash conversion | 15% | Operating cash flow / EBITDA >80% = green |\n\n**Financial Red Flags**\n- Revenue recognized before delivery\n- Related-party transactions >5% of revenue\n- Working capital deteriorating quarter-over-quarter\n- Customer acquisition cost (CAC) payback >18 months\n- Deferred revenue declining while bookings \"grow\"\n- Off-balance-sheet liabilities or operating leases hiding debt\n\n**Valuation Sanity Check**\n| Metric | Healthy Range | Danger Zone |\n|--------|---------------|-------------|\n| EV/Revenue | 3-8x (SaaS), 1-3x (services) | >15x without hypergrowth |\n| EV/EBITDA | 10-20x | >30x |\n| Price/FCF | 15-25x | >40x or negative FCF |\n| Net debt/EBITDA | <2x | >4x |\n\n### 2. Technology & Product (Weight: 20%)\n\n**Tech Stack Assessment**\n- Architecture: Monolith vs microservices vs serverless\n- Technical debt score: deployment frequency, change failure rate, MTTR\n- Security posture: SOC 2, ISO 27001, penetration test recency\n- Scalability: Can 10x current load without rewrite?\n- AI/Agent readiness: API-first? Automation potential?\n- IP ownership: Clean IP assignments from all contributors?\n\n**Product-Market Fit Signals**\n- Net Revenue Retention >110% = strong PMF\n- Logo churn <5% annually = healthy\n- NPS >40 = good, >60 = excellent\n- Organic growth % of total = true demand signal\n\n### 3. Legal & Compliance (Weight: 15%)\n\n**Legal Checklist**\n- [ ] Pending or threatened litigation\n- [ ] IP infringement claims or risk\n- [ ] Data privacy compliance (GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA)\n- [ ] Employment law compliance (contractor misclassification)\n- [ ] Environmental liabilities\n- [ ] Tax compliance and audit history\n- [ ] Change-of-control clauses in key contracts\n- [ ] Non-compete/non-solicit enforceability\n\n**Regulatory Risk Score**\n- Industry-specific regulations mapped\n- Compliance cost as % of revenue\n- Pending regulatory changes that could impact operations\n\n### 4. Operational Excellence (Weight: 15%)\n\n**Operations Scorecard**\n| Area | Green | Yellow | Red |\n|------|-------|--------|-----|\n| Employee turnover | <15% | 15-25% | >25% |\n| Key person dependency | Distributed | Some concentration | Single point of failure |\n| Process documentation | Comprehensive | Partial | Tribal knowledge |\n| Vendor concentration | Diversified | 2-3 critical | Single vendor lock-in |\n| Customer support quality | <2hr response, >90% CSAT | 4-8hr, >80% CSAT | >24hr, <70% CSAT |\n\n### 5. Cultural & People (Weight: 10%)\n\n**Integration Risk Assessment**\n- Leadership alignment on vision and values\n- Compensation structure compatibility\n- Remote/hybrid/office culture match\n- Decision-making style (flat vs hierarchical)\n- Glassdoor/Blind sentiment analysis\n- Key employee retention risk (flight risk score)\n\n**Retention Package Benchmarks**\n| Role Level | Retention Period | Typical Package |\n|------------|-----------------|-----------------|\n| C-Suite | 12-24 months | 1-2x base + equity acceleration |\n| VP/Director | 12-18 months | 0.5-1x base + equity |\n| Key IC | 6-12 months | Spot bonus + equity refresh |\n\n### 6. AI & Automation Readiness (Weight: 10%)\n\n**Agent-Era Value Score**\n- Data quality and accessibility (structured, labeled, API-accessible?)\n- Process automation potential (which workflows can agents run?)\n- AI talent on team (ML engineers, data scientists, prompt engineers)\n- Existing AI/ML models or IP\n- Competitive moat from proprietary data or models\n\n**Post-Acquisition AI Uplift Estimate**\n| Department | Automation Potential | Annual Savings |\n|------------|---------------------|----------------|\n| Customer Support | 40-60% ticket deflection | $120K-$400K |\n| Sales Operations | 30-50% pipeline automation | $80K-$200K |\n| Finance/Accounting | 50-70% reconciliation | $60K-$150K |\n| HR/Recruiting | 40-60% screening | $50K-$120K |\n| Legal/Compliance | 30-40% contract review | $40K-$100K |\n\n## Scoring & Output\n\n### Overall Deal Score (0-100)\n- 80-100: Strong buy — proceed to LOI/definitive agreement\n- 60-79: Conditional — address specific risks before proceeding\n- 40-59: Caution — significant risk areas need resolution\n- 0-39: Walk away — deal-breakers present\n\n### Deal-Breaker Triggers (auto-fail regardless of score)\n- Undisclosed material litigation\n- Revenue fraud or restatement risk\n- Key customer representing >40% revenue with no contract\n- Unresolvable IP ownership dispute\n- Regulatory action that could shut down operations\n- Key founder/employee departure with no retention agreement\n\n### Output Template\n\n```\n# M&A Due Diligence Report: [Target Company]\nDate: [YYYY-MM-DD]\nPrepared for: [Acquirer]\n\n## Executive Summary\n- Overall Score: [X/100]\n- Recommendation: [BUY / CONDITIONAL / WALK]\n- Key Strengths: [3 bullets]\n- Critical Risks: [3 bullets]\n- Estimated Integration Cost: $[X]\n- Post-Acquisition AI Uplift: $[X]/year\n\n## Detailed Scores\n| Dimension | Score | Weight | Weighted |\n|-----------|-------|--------|----------|\n| Financial Health | /100 | 30% | |\n| Technology & Product | /100 | 20% | |\n| Legal & Compliance | /100 | 15% | |\n| Operational Excellence | /100 | 15% | |\n| Cultural & People | /100 | 10% | |\n| AI & Automation Readiness | /100 | 10% | |\n| **Overall** | | | **/100** |\n\n## Red Flags\n[Numbered list with severity and mitigation]\n\n## Integration Roadmap\n- Day 1-30: [Quick wins]\n- Day 31-90: [System integration]\n- Day 91-180: [Full operational merge]\n- Day 181-365: [Optimization and AI deployment]\n\n## Recommended Next Steps\n[3-5 specific actions]\n```\n\n## 2026 Benchmarks\n\n**M&A Market Context**\n- Average SaaS acquisition multiple: 6-10x ARR (down from 15-20x in 2021)\n- Due diligence period: 60-90 days (accelerating with AI tools)\n- Integration failure rate: 70-90% of M&As fail to deliver expected value\n- #1 reason for failure: Cultural mismatch and poor integration planning\n- AI-ready targets command 15-25% premium over comparable non-AI companies\n\n**What's Changed in 2026**\n- AI/agent readiness is now a core valuation driver\n- Data assets valued separately (proprietary training data = moat)\n- Per-seat SaaS revenue declining — usage-based models preferred\n- Remote-first companies easier to integrate (no office consolidation)\n- Regulatory complexity increasing (EU AI Act, state privacy laws)\n\n---\n\n## Get the Full Industry Pack\n\nThis skill gives you the framework. For deep industry-specific due diligence benchmarks, financial models, and competitive intelligence templates:\n\n🖤💛 **AfrexAI Context Packs** — $47 each, 10 industries covered\n→ [Browse all packs](https://afrexai-cto.github.io/context-packs/)\n\n📊 **Free AI Revenue Calculator** — find what you're leaving on the table\n→ [Try it now](https://afrexai-cto.github.io/ai-revenue-calculator/)\n\n🤖 **Agent Setup Wizard** — deploy your first AI agent in 15 minutes\n→ [Start here](https://afrexai-cto.github.io/agent-setup/)\n\n💰 **Bundle deals**: Pick 3 for $97 | All 10 for $197 | Everything for $247\n","tags":{"acquisitions":"1.0.0","due diligence":"1.0.0","investment":"1.0.0","latest":"1.0.0","m&a":"1.0.0","mergers":"1.0.0","valuation":"1.0.0"},"stats":{"comments":0,"downloads":242,"installsAllTime":1,"installsCurrent":1,"stars":0,"versions":1},"createdAt":1771679659447,"updatedAt":1778491597572},"latestVersion":{"version":"1.0.0","createdAt":1771679659447,"changelog":"M&A Due Diligence AI Skill v1.0.0 — Initial Release\n\n- Launches a comprehensive M&A due diligence framework covering financial, operational, technology, legal, cultural, and AI/automation readiness.\n- Provides step-by-step assessment with weighted scoring, red flags, deal-breakers, and a clear go/no-go recommendation.\n- Includes up-to-date 2026 benchmarks, deal multiples, and integration guidance.\n- Features detailed output templates and actionable next-step suggestions.\n- Offers links to additional industry-specific resources and calculators for extended analysis.","license":null},"metadata":null,"owner":{"handle":"1kalin","userId":"s17e1q0nx23qnh4n429zzqc05x83hvsw","displayName":"1kalin","image":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/15705344?v=4"},"moderation":null}