Business development: to the deal and beyond

No two deals are the same, but the principles of how to build them are common to all. Here we turn our attention to the ultimate preparations for the deal itself and its execution, starting with due diligence. Negotiations are often considered to be a distinct phase of deal-making, but in truth you will have been negotiating from your earliest encounters with the potential partner, sending signals of strength about your programme, your intellectual property, denigrating competitors in your market and so on. Now, the due diligence process and its conduct play a role in determining how best to structure a deal and execute it. With an executed deal comes a new phase in the working relationship, one that if the programme is successful could last for many years longer than it took to get to this stage in the first place. Business development extends beyond the signing of the deal to supporting the management of the resultant alliance and the path ahead.