It is an axiom of troubled company M&A that there's no such thing as a perfect due diligence package.
If you are one of many growth-minded owners exploring the acquisition of a "treading water" printing business, don't hold your breath on waiting for 3 years financial statements, revenue projection for next 12 months, year to date P&L, current balance sheet that ties to AR and AP, customer analysis by top accounts, sales commission reports by sales person, etc.
Although this information request is plain vanilla, distressed companies face unique challenges in providing this disclosure to potential suitors. For one thing, they are too busy fighting daily fires to spend the quiet time necessary for information organization and analysis.
So what should the acquirer do if they made their information request and it's been slow to arrive?
I suggest sending a financial person to do a one-day on site work session with the CFO, controller, or bookkeeper of the target company. Of course, this should all be covered by a non-disclosure agreement.
Yes, the owner of the seller has to disclose he/she is "talking to someone" and thereby gain the involvement of the financial person. But such is the norm for companies facing today's challenges. Everyone is talking with everyone anyhow, so hardly a financial person is going to be shocked at that revelation!
[By the way: just let me know if you want a PDF of the NAPL Information Checklist, available to members of NAPL without charge].
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