Layer8 Due Diligence Assessment
Know What You’re Buying
Before You Buy It
AI-powered acquisition risk assessment for buyers, investors, and M&A advisors
Most buyers discover material risks during diligence — after they’ve committed to a price and signed an LOI. The Layer8 Due Diligence Assessment surfaces those risks before you commit, giving you the information you need to structure a better deal or walk away cleanly.
What buyers miss before they sign
The gap between what sellers represent and what buyers find in diligence is where acquisition value is lost — or where deals fall apart entirely.
Eight domains. Every acquisition risk.
Scored from the buyer’s perspective — high scores indicate risk, not readiness
The assessment evaluates all eight domains on a 1–10 risk scale. A score of 3/10 is good (low risk). A score of 8/10 requires your board’s attention before you proceed.
Weighted for how you actually buy
Domain weights shift based on your buyer type — a PE firm and an SBA buyer care about very different risks
How it works
Submit basic company information, your buyer persona, and whatever documents you have. The assessment can begin with a CIM and basic financials — no full data room required. Select your buyer type (PE, Strategic, or SBA) to calibrate the risk weights for your specific acquisition thesis.
Within 24 hours, receive a targeted guide showing exactly what documents to request and what questions to ask the seller — specific to your buyer type and the target’s vertical. This Stage 2 deliverable gives you the right questions to take into your next seller conversation, and the red flag indicators to watch for in their answers.
Submit additional documents and seller responses. Layer8 delivers a scored risk register across all eight domains, deal structure recommendations (price adjustment, escrow holdback with release conditions, reps and warranties, earnout structure if warranted, walk conditions if any domain exceeds critical thresholds), and a 30/60/90/180-day post-close integration playbook with cost estimates and ROI framing.
Four deliverables in every report
Scored assessment across all eight domains with risk level badges (LOW / MODERATE / HIGH RISK / CRITICAL), individual criterion findings drawn from submitted documents, and deal structure implications per finding. See exactly which criteria are driving risk and why.
Synthesized guidance on price adjustment with per-domain rationale, escrow holdback amount and domain-specific release conditions, enhanced reps and warranties, earnout structure if triggered by financial or customer risk, conditions precedent, and explicit walk conditions if any domain exceeds critical thresholds.
A 30/60/90/180-day action plan for after close — tied directly to the risks identified in the assessment. Includes cost estimates, ROI framing, and Layer8 service mapping for each initiative. Persona-specific: PE buyers get MIP and KPI dashboard initiatives; SBA buyers get day-one checklists and lender reporting setup.
Delivered at Stage 2 — before the full assessment — so you can go back to the seller with the right questions before you commit to an LOI. Persona-aware and vertical-specific. Includes document request priority tiers (CRITICAL / STANDARD / COMPREHENSIVE) and red flag indicators for each seller question.
Choose your level of support
Browse the demo portfolio
Explore 12 real acquisition target assessments across multiple verticals and buyer personas. See how the same company looks through different buyer lenses — and compare with the seller-side Exit Readiness portfolio at exit-readiness.layer8techgroup.com.
The same company. Two perspectives.
Layer8 offers both the Exit Readiness Assessment for sellers and the Due Diligence Assessment for buyers. When both sides of a transaction use Layer8, brokers get a complete picture of every deal — and Layer8 sits at the center of the transaction.
| Exit Readiness Assessment | Due Diligence Assessment | |
|---|---|---|
| For | Sellers preparing their business for sale | Buyers evaluating an acquisition target |
| Score meaning | High score = more ready, more valuable | High score = higher risk to buyer |
| Primary output | Value Recovery Roadmap, valuation uplift estimate | Risk Register, Deal Structure Recommendations |
| Domains | 7 (readiness-focused) | 8 (risk-focused, adds Integration Complexity) |
| Calibration | Industry vertical × tier | Buyer persona × vertical |
| Demo | exit-readiness.layer8techgroup.com | due-diligence.layer8techgroup.com |