Standing facts
- 08 engines · one evidence model
- 02 arenas · francophone Europe / Africa
- Entry from 2 minutes · free, no account needed
- Every engagement ends in a verdict , never a slide deck
- Fees anchored to value at stake · never consultant days
- Every instrument published blank · 33 rows in the public register
For buyers who cannot afford to learn after close.
The STREDGELAB Deal Reality Assurance Twin™ is the transaction decision-assurance layer between the data room and the board decision.
Speed pressure against evidence.
Standalone reality unclear.
Governance, data, jurisdiction gaps.
Founder or customer continuity is fragile.
Repeatable integration risk.
M&A breaks in the unknowns.
Deals rarely fail because one document was missing. They fail when weak evidence becomes price, fragile synergy becomes value, and integration risk is discovered after close.
- 01
Seller narrative diverges from verifiable evidence.
- 02
EBITDA does not convert into sustainable cash.
- 03
Hidden liabilities, dependencies and side agreements emerge late.
- 04
Synergy value is counted before feasibility and ownership are proven.
- 05
Integration destroys customers, talent or the capability being acquired.
STREDGELAB response: turn uncertainty into governed decisions, not post-close explanations.
Five versions of the target.
The Twin quantifies the gap between the company being sold and the company the buyer will actually inherit. Each version carries its own risk, and the control that closes it.
- 1PresentedSELLER NARRATIVERiskNarrative unverified.ControlRequire documentary support before it informs price.
- 2VerifiedRECONCILED EVIDENCERiskDocuments are not reality.ControlReconcile against independent evidence.
- 3Cash-adjustedCASH & RISK ADJUSTEDRiskAccounting is not cash.ControlNormalise to cash-adjusted contribution.
- 4StandaloneWITHOUT THE SELLER'S GROUPRiskStandalone is not inherited.ControlModel integration effects and dis-synergies.
- 5InheritedPOST-CLOSE REALITYRiskValue assumed, not designed.ControlIntegration blueprint, Day-1 controls, protected value corridor.
The bigger the gap, the stronger the required evidence, price protection and integration controls.
In money, that gap is the overpayment exposure. The value bridge below carries one illustrative target from presented earnings to supported value.
From presented earnings to supported value.
Presented EBITDA is normalised to cash, then translated into the value it actually supports. The gap between offer and supported value is the overpayment exposure.
Show the underlying numbers
| Line | €m |
|---|---|
| Presented | €100m |
| Add-backs | €12m |
| Cash gap | €-42m |
| Cash-adjusted | €70m |
Show the underlying numbers
| Line | €m |
|---|---|
| Offer at 10.0× presented | €1,000m |
| Supported by cash-adjusted | €700m |
| Overpayment exposure | €300m |
A closed loop, from diligence to learning.
Pre-deal reality assurance
Claims, evidence, EBITDA-to-cash, hidden exposure, protected value.
Integration & value realisation twin
Integration archetype, traps, customer / talent guardrails, realised benefits.
M&A Learning Fabric™
Outcome genome, deal replay, counterfactuals, transferable lessons.
→ every outcome feeds the next deal.
Seven deterministic deal modules.
Seven deterministic deal modules convert deal evidence into transaction posture, integration strategy and learning transfer.
A module is a component that runs inside one twin. It is not a decision engine: the firm has 8 decision engines, and those are the classes of decision we take on.
Deal Reality Engine
Tests seller claims against evidence, contradictions and source quality.
Deal Value Engine
Normalises EBITDA into cash, calculates protected value and overpayment exposure.
Deal Protection Engine
Converts risks into price adjustments, conditions, holdbacks, earnouts or walk-away triggers.
Integration Strategy Engine
Selects integration archetype, depth, speed, preservation boundaries and Day 1 controls.
Value Realisation Engine
Tracks synergies, integration costs, dis-synergies, adoption and sustained value post-close.
Deal Learning Engine
Classifies success/failure signatures and determines which lessons are transferable.
Deal Replay Engine
Reconstructs the thesis, evidence, decisions, assumptions and outcomes to prevent hindsight bias.
AI may explain, summarise, translate and draft from signed engine outputs. It cannot calculate authoritative values, select decision states, approve actions or alter audit records.
The Twin is decision-assurance, not a substitute. It does not replace legal, tax, or financial due diligence. It is not a fairness opinion and not a guarantee of outcome. Every posture it produces carries the evidence rung it rests on, so you can see exactly how much weight it bears.
The Deal Reality Review.
A time-boxed, buy-side decision-assurance engagement, run between data-room access and the board decision. It does not replace legal, tax, or financial due diligence; it governs the decision they feed.
- ✓Data-room access, or a defined subset.
- ✓The seller's claims: the information memorandum, management presentation, and the operating and synergy models.
- ✓The offer thesis: price, structure, and synergy assumptions.
- ✓A named deal owner and the decision date.
- ✓Pre-deal reality assurance (Deal Reality, Deal Value, Deal Protection modules).
- ✓Integration & value realisation twin (Integration Strategy, Value Realisation modules).
- ✓M&A Learning Fabric™ (Deal Learning, Deal Replay modules).
- ✓A governed deal posture (one of five) with the evidence behind it.
- ✓The five-versions gap read, Presented to Inherited, with the widest gaps named.
- ✓A protected-value corridor and an overpayment-exposure estimate.
- ✓A price-and-structure protection set: conditions, holdbacks, earnouts, walk-away triggers.
- ✓An integration blueprint: archetype, depth, velocity, Day-1 controls, customer and talent guardrails.
- ✓A single page your investment committee can authorise against, built to the Board Authorisation Canvas.
Timeline (indicative) — typically 2 to 4 weeks from data-room access to a board-ready output, depending on data-room readiness and scope.
Prefer to read first? The board-circulatable Twin overview, on one page. Twin overview · one page →
What this engine has passed.
- Internal gates passed
- Not yet published
- Internal gates defined
- Not yet published
- Assurance rung
- L2
A gate is one internal technical check the engine must pass before its output is treated as signed: a reconciliation, a boundary condition, or a determinism-and-replay test. The count is gates passed of gates defined.
Because the count is passed of defined, it measures how complete our own checks are — not whether the answer is right. A full set is not external validation: independent certification is pending across every engine.
This engine is built and in service, but its gate set is still being written, so no count is published and it stays at L2. We will publish both figures when the set is complete.
The questions buyers actually ask.
What do you need from us before you can start?
The evidence you already hold: the seller's reporting pack, the model behind the price, and whatever sits under the synergy case. We work from the room you already have. Where a document is missing, we record it as an open item on the verdict rather than filling the gap with an assumption.
What happens if the evidence contradicts the thesis?
We say so, in the verdict, in writing. The engine is deterministic: it resolves to the reading the evidence supports, not the one the deal needs. A verdict that says the price is not supported is the outcome we are paid to be able to produce.
Who signs the verdict, and can our board rely on it?
A named partner signs it, and it is written to be read by a board: the decision, the evidence behind it, and the limits of that evidence stated on the same page. It is our reading of the evidence you hold — it is not an audit opinion, a fairness opinion, or legal or tax advice.
How long does it take, and can it run inside an exclusivity window?
It is built for one: the modules are scoped to the decision date you give us, and we agree what is out of scope before we start rather than discovering it late. We would rather decline a window than accept one we cannot govern.
What is deliberately not in scope?
Legal, tax and regulatory due diligence, valuation opinions, and anything requiring an on-site audit of the target. We govern the decision quality of the case you are being asked to approve; we do not replace your advisers.
Request a Deal Reality Review.
A short qualifier. We reply within one working day (indicative), buy-side only.
The decision-assurance layer between the data room and the board.
- ✓Verify seller claims against evidence
- ✓Normalise earnings into sustainable cash
- ✓Quantify protected value and overpayment exposure
- ✓Design integration around value mechanics
- ✓Convert every deal outcome into governed learning
Evidence for your next high-stakes decision, starting with nine gates.
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