Corporate Due Diligence Services

Our due diligence team brings over three decades of experience in commercial private mortgage underwriting across Canada. That background means our assessments are grounded in the same rigorous credit and financial analysis methodology applied by private lenders to multi-million-dollar transactions.

Our experience spans more than 30 years of evaluating businesses, assets, borrower capacity, and deal structure across a wide range of Canadian industries. We understand not just how to read financial statements, but how to identify what is being obscured in them.

CanaWealth maintains an established professional network of commercial lawyers and accountants across most Canadian provinces. Where an engagement requires legal review, regulatory assessment, or independent accounting verification, we coordinate directly with qualified professionals within that network. Clients receive a fully integrated due diligence team rather than a single-discipline assessment.

For buyers acquiring an existing business, the period between a letter of intent and closing is the most critical window in the entire transaction. Acquisition due diligence conducted at this stage protects buyers from inheriting undisclosed liabilities, overpaying for inflated assets, or committing to a business whose reported performance does not reflect its actual condition.

CanaWealth’s acquisition due diligence examines the target business across the financial and commercial dimensions that matter most to a purchaser:

• Financial statement analysis and quality of earnings assessment
• Cash flow verification and working capital cycle review
• Debt structure, contingent liabilities, and off-balance sheet obligations
• Asset verification and condition assessment
• Customer and revenue concentration risk
• Operational and management continuity considerations
  Identification of material issues requiring negotiation or remediation prior to close

At the conclusion of the engagement, clients receive a written due diligence report, a risk summary outlining key findings and their materiality, and a verbal debrief with our team. Where legal or accounting review is required as part of the scope, those findings are integrated into the final deliverable.

Businesses seeking significant financing, whether from a bank, credit union, BDC, or private lender, are subject to a lender’s own due diligence process. That process is designed to protect the lender, not the borrower. Financing due diligence conducted independently, before a financing application is submitted, serves the opposite purpose: it prepares the business to present its strongest possible case, identifies weaknesses that may result in a decline or unfavourable terms, and positions the application for approval.

CanaWealth’s financing due diligence service is particularly well suited to:

• Businesses preparing a significant debt financing application
• Businesses that have received a decline and are reassessing their approach
• Businesses seeking to refinance existing facilities on better terms
• Businesses presenting to alternative lenders or private capital sources

The assessment reviews financial statements, cash flow capacity, debt serviceability, collateral position, and the overall strength of the financing narrative. The client receives a written assessment report, a prioritized list of items to address before submission, and a verbal debrief.

Where CanaWealth is also assisting with the financing placement, this assessment is conducted as a separate, fee-based engagement prior to that work. Clients are under no obligation to engage CanaWealth for placement. Where the financing involves a mortgage transaction, CanaWealth refers clients to qualified mortgage professionals within our lending network, as CanaWealth does not hold a mortgage brokerage licence.

Most business owners preparing to sell focus on finding a buyer. Far fewer take the step that most directly protects their asking price and transaction timeline: understanding what a buyer will find before they find it.

Vendor due diligence is a pre-sale assessment conducted on behalf of the selling party. It identifies the financial, operational, and structural issues that a buyer’s due diligence process will surface, giving the vendor the opportunity to address those issues in advance rather than negotiating under pressure after they have been discovered.

The commercial case for vendor due diligence is straightforward. Issues discovered during a buyer’s due diligence become leverage. Issues resolved before a buyer enters the picture do not. A clean, well-documented business commands a stronger valuation and closes faster.

CanaWealth’s vendor due diligence assessment examines the business from a buyer’s perspective, covering:

• Financial statement integrity and earnings quality
• Normalized EBITDA and working capital presentation
• Liability exposure and contingent obligations
• Asset documentation and condition
• Customer concentration and revenue sustainability
• Operational and management transition considerations

The engagement concludes with a written findings report, a prioritized remediation plan, and a verbal debrief. Where issues require legal or accounting attention prior to a sale process, we coordinate with our professional network accordingly.