Political due diligence for transactions
A regulatory risk shows up in the accounts only when it is too late.
Assessing political and regulatory risk ahead of investments, shareholdings and market entries.
What it is about
Classic due diligence examines what applies. Political due diligence examines how long it will still apply and who is currently working on changing it.
In regulated industries a substantial part of company value comes from the legal frame: a concession, a feed-in tariff, a market position or an exemption. Those positions are politically changeable, and the change is announced years in advance, usually in documents nobody reads.
We therefore examine three things: which rules carry the value, which initiatives touch those rules, and how robust the target company’s relationships with the relevant bodies actually are. The result is an assessment across the holding period, not the quarter.
The points that decide
Value drivers
Which rule carries the earnings, and how stable is it.
Pipeline
Pending initiatives in Vienna and Brussels across the holding period.
Relationships
Are contacts institutional or tied to one person.
Reputation
Open proceedings and media legacy keep working after closing.
How we work on it
Professional Analysis & Monitoring
Curated monitoring of initiatives, draft legislation and public debate - assessed against your business goals.
High-Level Strategy & Campaigning
A business strategy becomes a communications programme that reaches its goals faster.
Stakeholder & Network
Simply "knowing" people adds nothing. Robust relationships of trust with decision-makers do.
Frequently asked
When should political due diligence happen?
In parallel with legal and commercial due diligence, not after. Once the valuation is fixed, a regulatory finding leads only to renegotiation under time pressure, or is waved through because nobody wants to stop the process.
Is that not a job for the lawyers?
Lawyers examine the law in force and existing proceedings, very thoroughly. The question of which law arrives in eighteen months and who is currently drafting it is not a legal question. The two reviews complement each other.
Related focus areas
Business lobbying
Interest representation for concrete business goals: permits, tenders, market entries, shareholdings.
Open pagePublic affairs strategy
Developing a durable public affairs strategy: goals, priorities, messages, resources and measures.
Open pagePolitical monitoring
Curated observation of legislative initiatives, consultations and debate in Vienna and Brussels, assessed against your business goals.
Open page
Facing an issue in this sector?
A first conversation usually settles quickly whether and how we can help.