In a sale
What is in a CIM?
A CIM sets out the financials, the operations, and the opportunity, and makes the case for the category a buyer should place the business in, for buyers who have signed an NDA. It is where the story of the business is told in full. A CIM that ties to the numbers a buyer will test later protects the price through diligence.
Where it comes up
Read it in context
In the articles
- Same business, two outcomesTwo identical businesses, one prepared and one not, sell for very different prices.
- An add-back is an argumentAdjusted EBITDA is built, not declared, and the buyer's accountants will rebuild it.
- When a buyer calls firstAn inbound offer is information, not a decision.
- Diligence yourself firstEvery business has issues. The question is who finds them.
- Strategic, platform, add-on, sponsor: who buys whatDifferent buyers pay for different things. The process should include several.
- What the buyer's memo says about youBefore any offer, someone writes an internal memo. Here is what is in it.
- Multiple entities, one storyFounders build in pieces. Buyers buy a whole.
In The FNDRS Playbook
See the terms with your own numbers
The Go-To-Market Analysis (GTMA) builds the file a buyer would build on your business, before a buyer does.