A Swiss mechanical engineering firm paid CHF 4.2 million for a competitor. Eleven months later the buyer was staring at CHF 680'000 in unpaid VAT liabilities and a BVG pension shortfall of CHF 320'000. Neither figure had appeared anywhere in the seller's balance sheet. The company had skipped a Financial Due Diligence. The gap between […]
If you own a Swiss SME, the window in front of you right now is one of the most favourable for sellers in more than a decade. Deloitte Switzerland's annual M&A Activity of Swiss SME report shows 208 completed transactions in 2025 – a 16% jump from 2024. Foreign buyers closed a record 104 inbound […]
Quick Answer Financial due diligence Switzerland: buy-side and sell-side playbooks for Swiss tech SMEs navigating the K-shaped M&A market. How to prepare financials for buyer scrutiny and optimise your exit valuation. The 2026 M&A landscape has split decisively in two. This is no longer a market where a rising tide carries every boat. What we […]
Quick Answer Learn how team dynamics affect investor due diligence outcomes. Discover how strong leadership, collaboration, and conflict resolution can improve investor confidence. When investors evaluate an SME, the financials and market opportunity only tell part of the story. How the team actually functions together, day to day and under pressure, carries real weight in […]
Quick Answer Learn how investors evaluate market disruption potential during SME due diligence. Discover key factors like value proposition, technology, and consumer adoption. Market disruption happens when an SME brings a genuinely new approach to an industry, changing how it operates at a fundamental level. During due diligence, investors spend real time on this question. […]
Quick Answer Learn how to analyse customer contracts during startup due diligence. Discover key elements like payment terms, obligations, and risks that impact investor decisions. When investors open a data room, customer contracts are among the first documents they reach for. That's not coincidence. Those agreements tell a precise story about revenue stability, client relationships, […]
Quick Answer A structured guide to evaluating investment risk during SME due diligence – covering market, financial, operational, and regulatory exposures, with Swiss-context examples and mitigation strategies. Effective investment decisions depend on more than enthusiasm for a business idea. Risk evaluation is the backbone of any credible due diligence process, and for Swiss and European […]
Quick Answer Why financial statements are the backbone of financial due diligence Switzerland: what buyers scrutinise, common red flags in Swiss SME accounts, and how to present clean financials before an M&A process. For any investor reviewing a Swiss SME, financial statements are the starting point. They compress years of business activity into a readable […]
Quick Answer Learn how to identify red flags in SME financials during due diligence. Discover common issues like negative cash flow, excessive debt, and customer concentration risks. Financial statements tell the real story. When investors examine an SME's books during due diligence, they are looking past the pitch deck for signs of structural problems: revenue […]
Quick Answer Compliance shapes every investment decision. For Swiss SMEs raising capital or preparing for acquisition, regulatory adherence across data privacy, tax, and industry-specific frameworks is what separates investable companies from ones investors pass on. Investors do not fund companies they cannot underwrite. Compliance is how a Swiss SME proves it is underwritable. During due […]