Buy side review of a healthcare services group
A trade buyer, an agreed price, and a red flag report on day nine.
2026
What the owner got.
Taken off the price
£3.1m
Day the red flag report landed
9
Adjustments to EBITDA
3
Weeks to the final report
6
Source: final due diligence report, May 2026. Shown with the client’s written permission.
The work
What happened, in order.
2
The situation
The buyer had agreed a price on headline EBITDA and had six weeks of exclusivity. The seller’s accounts were clean, but the management accounts told a different story.
Trade buyer
Healthcare services
220 people
UAE
What we did
The red flag report on day nine set out three adjustments: staff costs held in a related company, a contract that ended in the year, and deferred income treated as revenue.
What made the difference
Each adjustment came with the numbers behind it, so the buyer could renegotiate on facts, not opinion.
Six weeks, data request to final report.
Scope and data request in week one, the red flag report on day nine, quality of earnings and net debt from week two to five, and the final report in week six.
“Day nine changed the deal. Everything after that was negotiation on facts.”
Corporate development director, name withheld. Shown with written permission.
Who led it
The partner on this case.
3
Next step
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