Determine Software Pedigree. Assess Intellectual Property. Clarify License Obligations.

Consolidation, strategic intellectual property acquisitions, and international market expansion have become driving forces in today’s fast-paced corporate world. As a corporate development officer evaluating potential acquisitions, or as an entrepreneur or investor developing an exit strategy, you need technical due diligence to be fast, accurate, and fair.

• As an acquirer, you need to know that the software you are purchasing is licensed correctly and that any proprietary intellectual property is without encumbrances.
• As a company that wishes to be acquired, you need to be prepared so the deal can progress smoothly without any findings that could devalue your assets.

How can you accelerate due diligence while assuring accuracy?

• Evaluate Code before an Acquisition. For a company being acquired, thoroughly evaluating your code in advance of a transaction lets you avoid surprises that might derail discussions or affect your valuation. For the acquiring company, comprehensive code evaluation assures accurate valuation of software assets and mitigates the risk of unanticipated licensing issues undermining future value.

• Automate Software Code Evaluation. The days when an engineer could eyeball code to determine its origins and licensing are long gone. Software complexity has expanded exponentially. An automated assessment inventories code origins and licenses, down to the file and snippet level, while reporting conflicts and suggested remediation.

• Take Advantage of Others’ Expertise. Use professionals with a track record in software due diligence analysis. Understanding the reports from an assessment requires expertise to determine where recommended remediation requires software rework. Let someone with experience guide you in the resolution of any issues found during technical due diligence.

Know Your Code™. Black Duck Software offers products and professional services for fast, accurate and comprehensive software assessment. Black Duck has assisted in over $30 billon of M&A transactions. We provide the highest level of assurance available for technical software due diligence.

How can you find out more information?

• Read about transactIP, a hosted solution that for identifying open source and other third party code within your software code base. It is the most expedient, accurate and cost effective way to Know Your Code prior to an M&A event.

• Discover how the Remote PC Access Service Provider - LogMeIn used transactIP to complete an in-depth code review for a corporate acquisition in less than one day, saving two-months of effort

• Learn how to make all parties involved in technology M&A's aware of the importance of software component management by reading the whitepaper The New Due Diligence: Assessing the Protecting Your Software Asset Value in Mergers, Acquisitions and Financing Rounds.