# Screen a company I might acquire for strategic fit

A structured first-pass screen of an acquisition target covering rationale, fit, valuation logic, integration risk, and deal-breakers.

- Topic: Business Strategy & Startups
- Framework: RTF
- Level: Standard
- Tags: Strategy, Finance, Analyze, Plan, Fill-in Template
- Source: https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/prompts/screen-a-company-i-might-acquire-for-strategic-fit

## Prompt

```text
Help me assess whether a company is worth pursuing as an acquisition, before we spend money on diligence.

**Target:** [NAME, what it does, size, revenue if known, ownership]
**Why I'm interested:** [e.g. "buy a product we'd otherwise build", "enter a new market", "acquire the team", "remove a competitor"]
**Our company:** [SIZE, strategy, cash or financing available]
**What we know about them:** [PASTE public info, notes from conversations]
**Rough price expectation:** [if any]
**Alternatives:** [build it ourselves, partner, license, do nothing]

Analyze:
1. Strategic rationale in one sentence, and whether it holds up against the build/partner/do-nothing alternatives.
2. Fit: product, customers, technology, and culture. Note overlaps and conflicts.
3. Value creation: list specific revenue and cost synergies, and label each as likely, possible, or speculative. Most acquisitions overestimate revenue synergies.
4. Valuation logic: which methods would apply (revenue multiple, comparable deals, build-cost avoided) and what I'd need to know to use them. Do not invent comparables or multiples; mark [RESEARCH].
5. Integration risks: key people retention, systems, customer churn, management distraction.
6. Deal-breakers to test early, and the 10 most important diligence questions.
7. Verdict: pursue / pursue only if [CONDITION] / pass, with reasons.

General information only: involve your corporate lawyer and financial advisors before making an offer.
```

## What to fill in

- NAME, what it does, size, revenue if known, ownership
- SIZE, strategy, cash or financing available
- PASTE public info, notes from conversations
- if any
- build it ourselves, partner, license, do nothing
- RESEARCH
- CONDITION

Free to copy and use. From ThinkWithPrompt (https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/), a library of 2,663 curated AI prompts.