Tech, ops, and compliance diligence from the buyer's perspective — 8 risk domains, 3 buyer personas, deal structure recommendations in 5–10 business days.
By the time a standard due diligence process flags material issues, the buyer is emotionally committed and negotiating leverage has shifted. Layer8 moves this discovery earlier.
Each domain scores risk 1–10 on an inverted scale — a 10 means low risk. Domain weights shift based on your buyer persona.
Documentation, vendor lock-in, technical debt, end-of-life systems, and architectural risk for the acquiring entity's integration needs.
Owner dependency, management team depth, critical knowledge holders, compensation structure, and retention risk under new ownership.
Revenue quality, EBITDA normalization, working capital requirements, customer concentration, and financial statement hygiene.
Contract assignability, IP ownership gaps, open litigation, employment law compliance, and regulatory exposure.
HIPAA, SOC 2, PCI, and industry-specific regulatory requirements — assessed against the target's actual posture, not stated policy.
Process documentation, system dependency, vendor concentration, supply chain risk, and scalability constraints.
Customer concentration, competitive moat, revenue defensibility, growth trajectory, and category dynamics under new ownership.
Systems integration complexity, culture compatibility, geographic overlap, and post-close operational dependency for the acquirer.
Domain weights shift significantly based on who is buying and why. A PE platform buying for EBITDA growth has very different risk priorities than an SBA individual buying a lifestyle business.
Platform acquisitions and add-ons for private equity funds and family offices. Emphasis on EBITDA quality, integration risk, and management team retention.
Corporate buyers acquiring for capability, customer base, or market expansion. Emphasis on tech stack compatibility, IP ownership, and customer quality.
Owner-operators acquiring via SBA financing. Emphasis on owner dependency, operational scalability, and whether the business can survive a leadership transition.
Full domain-by-domain risk scoring with per-criterion findings, severity ratings, and deal-impact analysis. Formatted for sharing with your deal team.
Escrow provisions, earnout triggers, rep & warranty considerations, and indemnification language guidance based on identified risk profile.
30-60-90 day integration checklist prioritized by risk severity, with specific actions for each identified gap before and after close.
Customized request list for the target company — organized by domain, with rationale for each request so sellers understand what you need and why.
Consistent, standardized diligence across a deal pipeline. Compare risk profiles across target companies on the same framework.
First-time acquirers who need expert-level diligence without a full internal deal team. Delivered in days, not weeks.
Corporate development teams who need an independent technology and compliance assessment to complement their internal financial review.
Review sample DD reports across multiple deal types and buyer personas — then start your assessment intake.