If You Think It Smells Bad Now, Wait until You Dig into It
More than 20 years ago, I was General Counsel of a small software company. The CEO – a successful serial entrepreneur – was always looking for opportunities to acquire, or establish strategic relationships with, other companies. The CEO was creative in identifying opportunities, yet highly attuned to potential problems. He told me, “If you think it smells bad now, wait until you dig into it.“ I was recently reminded of his warning.
A client (“Client”) had signed a letter of intent to acquire a much smaller company (“Target”) and asked that I represent Client in the transaction. I sent a Due Diligence Request List to Target, and with its reply I had my first clues that Target might have some problems. Target’s initial responses were superficial and incomplete. I did not know whether the company was being evasive or was merely naive. Either way, it appeared that Target lacked a lawyer’s guidance.
