Stage 1 Due Diligence - Best Approach

Hey guys,

I am working in IB on the buy side for a financial sponsor in an upcoming 2 stage auction process. We will receive an IM, model and potentially some extracts of key DD reports when the data room opens.

Interested to hear what your process is to understand and digest all the information as quickly as possible and how do you form your own view on whether this is an attractive opportunity, key areas of diligence / risk, etc.

I would also be keen to understand what you typically do when you get the model and what functionality you add in to front run some of the model work (I.e. add valuation tab, add sensitivities, etc)