Case · Deal screening
A sponsor avoided a poorly performing company.
- Out-of-home and ad monitoring showed the target wasting spend on Grand Central line ads aimed at potential PE buyers.
Outcome as stated by MEO Advisors.
Deal stage: before LOI
Diligence before LOI, from public evidence.
Pre-acquisition due diligence before LOI tests a target from the outside, before the deal team has data-room access. Meo Advisors works from public evidence and customer-side tests, so the target is not involved. A marketing and CX readout starts within hours; the initial audit of those two areas takes 24–72 hours.
In short
- Public evidence and customer-side tests; the target gives no access.
- Marketing and CX: partial readout within hours, initial audit in 24–72 hours.
- Cyber work before authorization uses passive public sources only.
Can diligence start before LOI without involving the target?
Yes. Because the work uses public evidence and customer-side tests, it needs nothing from the target: no access, no data room and no management time.
| What the deal book shows | What we test from the outside |
|---|---|
| Financials | 01 Marketing & Digital Visibility |
| Management presentation | 02 Competition |
| Data room | 03 CX & Call Centers |
| 04 Cybersecurity | |
| 05 Technology & Infrastructure | |
| 06 Compliance & Risk |
The same six areas apply as in full private equity due diligence; before LOI, each is limited to what the outside view can show.
How to perform due diligence on a company?
Before LOI: agree the deal question, collect public evidence, test it against peers, rank every finding, and list what only the target’s own data could answer.
- ScopeDeal question, markets and peers
- CollectPublic evidence: sites, search, ads, reviews
- TestMystery shops and an external exposure review
- RankEvery finding scored on impact, effort, confidence and scope
- Deliver100-day plan, risk register, scorecard
Collect, test and rank Marketing and CX: partial readout within hours, initial audit in 24–72 hours.
The work can start before LOI, during exclusivity or after close.
Each step closes with a sponsor sign-off. We agree the timetable for the other areas at scoping. Missing evidence is never scored as a failure.
Penetration testing runs only on request, with authorization.
How fast is the first readout?
For marketing and CX, a partial readout is ready within hours and the initial audit within 24–72 hours. We agree the timetable for the other areas at scoping.
To see the marketing, search and CX view of one target today, run a free instant audit.
Does the target know we ran the audit?
Not from us. The outside-in audit does not contact or notify the target; it only fetches public pages. Mystery shops, when the sponsor agrees to them, look like ordinary customer inquiries and run within the deal’s NDA.
What happens to the URL you enter
- The audit uses it to collect public information about that website only.
- Result pages are blocked to search engines in robots.txt.
- The target is not contacted, and no access to its systems is requested.
Before written authorization, any cyber work uses passive public sources only: no port scans, vulnerability scans or login attempts.
What are red flags in due diligence?
Before LOI, the useful red flags are the ones that change whether to bid, and at what price.
- Demand that depends on paid spend that does not convert.
- Customers who cannot reach the target, or get no reply.
- Public exposure that a buyer would have to fix in the first 100 days.
- Marketing claims the evidence does not support.
Case · Diligence for a strategic buyer
A specialty healthcare services company
A strategic buyer found $70M of replicable paid strategies.
- 852 paid-search ads read
- 401 blind spots, each mapped to a tool, dataset or data-room request that would close it
Counts of our work. Source: MEO engagement records, anonymized; the $70M outcome as stated by MEO.
What is a red flag due diligence report?
A short, ranked list of the findings that could change price or terms, each with its evidence. Before LOI, it also lists what the outside view could not see.
What we can’t see from outside
- Conversion rate and acquisition cost
- Revenue by channel
- Answer rate across all calls
Each is listed with the record that would answer it. Missing evidence is never scored as a failure.
Strong findings can carry straight into the first plan; see the marketing due diligence hub, the area the free audit covers best.
What pre-LOI diligence has found
- $70Mof replicable paid digital strategies, driving substantial margin, identified by a strategic buyer.Diligence for a strategic buyerThe buyer put them to work in its existing portfolio company before confirmatory diligence started.
- No dealA sponsor avoided a poorly performing company.Deal screeningOut-of-home and ad monitoring showed the target wasting spend on Grand Central line ads aimed at potential PE buyers.
- 70%of providers with no available appointment in the next 14 days worked at a clinic with another provider available within 48 hours.Revenue and process optimizationOur AI solution worked around EHR and system limits, so patients reach care with less friction.
Anonymized engagements; outcomes as stated by MEO Advisors.
Set the evidence boundary before engagement
The outside-in diligence method explains how public evidence and authorized checks fit together. Use the guide to choosing a due diligence provider to agree scope and outputs before work begins.
Run a free instant audit on a target.
A free, automated snapshot from public information: marketing, search and CX. Deep dives from $15K.
Meo Advisors Editorial writes and maintains this page. Its numbers are Meo Advisors’ own statements or cited external benchmarks, and every mock is labelled Illustrative. See the editorial policy and corrections process.