M&A Foundations · glossary

Process letter

In an auction, the seller's letter telling bidders how the process works: the timetable, what a bid must contain, how the data room operates and the rules of engagement. Ignore it at your peril — bids that do not follow the process letter tend to go to the bottom of the pile. Chapter 3

Explained in Chapter 3, Deal Types and Structures, of M&A Foundations.

How it comes up, in Chapter 3
The stages deserve a sentence each, because you will meet these words constantly. The teaser is a short, usually anonymised profile of the business, sent to likely buyers to see who bites. Anyone interested signs an NDA and receives the information memorandum (IM) — a detailed selling document describing the business, its financials and its growth story. It is marketing, not a warranted document — buyers are expected to verify everything in due diligence. Alongside it comes…
Read Chapter 3, Deal Types and Structures →

Related terms

Where this term lives

Every chapter of M&A Foundations is free to read, including the full training share purchase agreement. It is part of one complete fictional deal, with every document attached and a test after every chapter. Open M&A Foundations → · All terms A–Z →