Venture Capital – What Happens After The Due Diligence Process
If the venture capitalists are interested in your company after completing their due diligence, they will offer a binding term sheet. It will reflect the draft term sheet that has already been agreed to but this one will be a legal contractual agreement. Then the real negotiations start.
There are different types of financing to consider: debt, equity, and mezzanine.
Debt financing is the most objective and is therefore the easiest to negotiate. If you have the assets to support the debt and the income to support the interest payments, the negotiation period will be very short.
Equity financing negotiating is more complicated and revolves around agreeing on valuation and percentage ownership. Discussions usually requires several days.
Mezzanine financing involves a mix of equity, debt, convertible debentures and preferred shares. Negotiating the technical aspects of each so that an agreement can be reached between the investor and your company can be time consuming.
Another dictating factor is the number and variety of financing offers that you receive. It is the...