Due diligence on a prospective joint venture partner

An Asian motorcycle manufacturer was in the final round of talks with a prospective Indian distributor. As a routine procedural requirement, the client wanted a background check on their potential partner. As they did not have a presence in India, they were not able to ascertain

– The company’s background and reputation

– Past business experience and financial figures

– Physical presence and infrastructure

The required turnaround time of the project was very tight since the joint venture was in the final round of talks.

On-ground presence + effective probing to provide the true perspective

The ValueNotes team overcame several challenges in the project:

• Secondary information on the prospective partner was very limited: To verify the company’s physical presence, the ValueNotes team carried out field visits to the premises of the company’s office.
• Previous business partners and associates of the company were reluctant to reveal information: ValueNotes used its network of contacts to reach out and gain confidence of the previous business partners of the company and effectively probed them to get the required information.

Expert due diligence = Money saved

The exceptional on-ground and primary research done on the prospective partner revealed:

– Non-existent office premises

– Inflated sales figures

– Ongoing criminal litigation against the company owner

Based on the research done by ValueNotes, the Asian motorcycle manufacturer abandoned the joint venture partnership with a fraudulent company and saved millions of dollars.