NDA
An NDA, or non-disclosure agreement, is the confidentiality agreement a buyer signs before it learns the name of the business or receives the CIM, limiting what it may do with what it learns.
In a sale
Why does an NDA come before the CIM?
Because the CIM names the business and sets out its financials: buyers first see a one-page teaser with no name on it, and only those who sign an NDA receive the CIM. The standard form FNDRS uses lets a buyer use what it learns only to evaluate, negotiate, and close this sale, and bars it from contacting your employees, customers, or suppliers about the sale without written consent. The agreement each buyer signs governs, and its terms can differ.
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.
- When a buyer calls firstAn inbound offer is information, not a decision.
- Strategic, platform, add-on, sponsor: who buys whatDifferent buyers pay for different things. The process should include several.
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.