--- title: M&A Due Diligence Checklist for Corporate Development description: "A 10-point M&A due diligence checklist for in-house corporate development teams: ownership, control, directors, charges, property and ECCTA checks." --- [Skip to content](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/blog/ma-due-diligence-checklist-for-corporate-development#main-content) [![ProbeDigital Logo](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/hubfs/ProbeDigital%20Logo-1.png)](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/) - Who We help Show submenu for Who We help - [Sales Focused Teams](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/lead-generation) - [Business & Professionals](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/business-professionals) - [Advisors to Business](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/advisors-to-business) - [Investors](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/investors) - Products Show submenu for Products - [Corporate Profile](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/corporate-profile) - [Corporate Links](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/corporate-link) - [Corporate Search](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/company-search-and-lead-generation) - [ECCTA Compliance](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/en/eccta-company-director-compliance-verification) - [Uk & Foreign Ownership](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/uk-companies-owned-by-uk-and-foriegn-entities) - [Judgement Check](https://app.probedigital.co.uk/ccj-dashboard/judgement-checker) - [Blog](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/blog) - [About Us](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/about-us) - [Pricing](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/subscription-pricing-0) - [Contact Us](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/contact-us-page) - [Log In](https://app.probedigital.co.uk/login) - Who We help Show submenu for Who We help - [Sales Focused Teams](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/lead-generation) - [Business & Professionals](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/business-professionals) - [Advisors to Business](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/advisors-to-business) - [Investors](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/investors) - Products Show submenu for Products - [Corporate Profile](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/corporate-profile) - [Corporate Links](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/corporate-link) - [Corporate Search](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/company-search-and-lead-generation) - [ECCTA Compliance](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/en/eccta-company-director-compliance-verification) - [Uk & Foreign Ownership](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/uk-companies-owned-by-uk-and-foriegn-entities) - [Judgement Check](https://app.probedigital.co.uk/ccj-dashboard/judgement-checker) - [Blog](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/blog) - [About Us](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/about-us) - [Pricing](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/subscription-pricing-0) - [Contact Us](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/contact-us-page) - [Log In](https://app.probedigital.co.uk/login) ![menu-toggle](https://21645388.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/21645388/menu-toggle.svg) ![menu-close](https://21645388.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/21645388/menu-close.svg) [Sign Up](https://app.probedigital.co.uk/signup) [#companies\_house](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/blog/tag/companies_house), [#KYC](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/blog/tag/kyc) # M&A Due Diligence Checklist for Corporate Development [By \- James Sharpe,](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/blog/author/james-sharpe) Sep 29, 2026 ***Ten ownership and control checks an in-house corporate development team can run on any UK target, organised by deal stage from first screen to SPA, including directors' track records, charges, property and ECCTA identity verification status.***   M&A due diligence for an in-house team has to answer one question early: who really owns and controls the target, and what comes with them? Financial, legal and commercial workstreams take most of the budget. Ownership and control issues, such as undisclosed related companies, directors with a poor track record, charges over key assets or unverified people with significant control (PSCs), are usually cheap to find early and expensive to find late. This checklist sets out ten ownership and control checks a corporate development team can run on any UK target before it reaches investment committee. It is organised by deal stage, so the lightest checks happen first and the deeper work is saved for targets you intend to pursue.   ## Why ownership checks matter more in 2026 Three things have raised the stakes for corporate acquirers this year. **More deals, more competition.** Writing for Deutsche Bank on 28 September 2026, the bank's Head of UK M&A reported that announced deals involving UK targets reached around £180 billion by the end of June 2026, roughly three times the same period in 2025, and that 88% of respondents to the bank's survey expect more private equity acquisitions of UK-listed companies ([Deutsche Bank](https://www.db.com/news/detail/20260928-the-next-phase-of-uk-manda-confidence-translating-into-activity?language_id=1)). Corporate buyers are screening more targets, often against sponsors with dedicated diligence teams. **Identity verification under ECCTA.** Under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, identity verification became a legal requirement at Companies House on 18 November 2025, with a 12-month transition period for existing directors and PSCs ([Changes to UK company law, GOV.UK](https://changestoukcompanylaw.campaign.gov.uk/identity-verification/)). That transition ends in mid-November 2026, after which Companies House has said it will take proportionate action against those who fail to verify. Companies House management information for April to June 2026 showed 55% of directors and 42% of PSCs had verified ([PKF Francis Clark, citing Companies House](https://pkf-francisclark.co.uk/insights/companies-house-identity-verification/)). Not complying is an offence, and an unverified individual cannot make filings for the company. **Filed information is not the whole story.** In September 2026 the Insolvency Service had an online retailer wound up after finding £6.3 million of unexplained incoming payments over a period in which the company had filed dormant accounts ([Insolvency Service](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/online-retailer-shut-down-had-63-million-unexplained-transactions)). Registers tell you what has been filed. Diligence is about testing whether it is true.   ## The M&A due diligence checklist: 10 ownership and control checks ### Stage 1: Screening, before you approach the target 1. **Confirm the legal entity and its status.** Record the exact company number, registered office, status and incorporation date. Check whether accounts or the confirmation statement are overdue, and whether the company has changed its name or registered office recently. Small inconsistencies at this stage often point to bigger questions later. 2. **Map the group to the ultimate controller.** Use the PSC register, shareholder filings and parent company details to trace ownership up to the people or entities that ultimately control the target. Note where the chain leaves the UK, where shares are held through trusts or nominees, and where the PSC statement says no registrable person has been identified. Do not stop at the immediate parent. 3. **Screen directors' and PSCs' other appointments.** List every other company the directors and PSCs have been involved with, including dissolved and insolvent ones, and check the disqualified directors register. In September 2026 a disqualified director was jailed after running five companies while banned ([Insolvency Service](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/fantasist-who-called-himself-doctor-and-lord-jailed-for-fraud)). A pattern of failed companies is not proof of wrongdoing, but it should shape your questions. ### Stage 2: Before an indicative offer 1. **Check identity verification status for directors and PSCs.** With the ECCTA transition ending, an unverified director or PSC at a target is both a compliance issue and a practical one: it can hold up filings the target needs to make before and after completion. Add [identity verification status](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/en/eccta-company-director-compliance-verification) to your first-pass pack and ask the seller to fix any gaps before signing. 2. **Pull registered charges across the group.** Identify who holds security, over which assets, and whether charges have been satisfied. Outstanding charges affect the financing structure, the release mechanics at completion and, sometimes, whether the key assets are really available to the business you are buying. 3. **Check CCJs and court judgments.** Search the target and connected entities for county court judgments and other judgments. A cluster of unpaid judgments at a related company can reveal cash stress or disputes that the data room does not mention. 4. **Identify property held by the group and connected entities.** Many owner-managed businesses operate from property held outside the target, in a founder's personal name or a separate company, and leased back. Map UK [property held by the group and connected entities](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/uk-companies-owned-by-uk-and-foriegn-entities), including overseas-owned entities, so you know what you are buying, what you are renting, and from whom. ### Stage 3: Before exclusivity and the SPA 1. **Reconcile the seller's story with the registers.** Compare the structure chart in the information memorandum with the PSC register, shareholder filings and charges. Every difference should either be explained or become a due diligence request. 2. **Screen the ownership chain for sanctions and adverse media.** Run screening on the ultimate owners, directors and significant counterparties, not just the target company's name. Risk usually sits one or two layers above the entity you are acquiring. 3. **Record what you checked, when and where.** Keep a dated record of each search and its source. It supports your investment committee paper, gives your legal advisers a clear starting point for warranties and disclosure, and shows the board that ownership risk was considered.   ## Turning the checklist into a repeatable workflow A checklist only helps if it is used on every target, not just the ones that feel risky. Four habits make that practical: - **Standardise a first-pass pack.** Agree a one-page template covering checks 1 to 3 and use it for every name on the pipeline. - **Screen the pipeline in bulk.** If you track dozens of potential targets, run the Stage 1 checks across the whole list at once, for example from a CSV, rather than company by company. - **Refresh at each gate.** Ownership, charges and appointments change. Re-run the checks before the indicative offer, before exclusivity and before signing. - **Hand over cleanly to advisers.** Share your findings with external legal and financial advisers at the start, so their time goes on the issues you have already found rather than on rebuilding the basics. For more on how in-house teams are speeding up this work, see [AI Corporate Intelligence for In-House M&A Teams](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/blog/ai-corporate-intelligence-for-in-house-ma-teams).   ## Where a corporate intelligence platform fits None of these checks replaces legal, financial or tax due diligence. What a [corporate intelligence platform](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/corporate-link) does is bring the public record into one place, so the first pass is quicker and consistent across the team. ProbeDigital covers company ownership and control, group structures, directors and PSCs, ECCTA identity verification status, UK and foreign property ownership, CCJs and court judgments, charges, credit scores, financials and valuations, with bulk CSV audits for pipelines and portfolios.   ## Frequently asked questions ### What is M&A due diligence? M&A due diligence is the investigation a buyer carries out before acquiring a company, to confirm what it is buying and to identify risks that affect price, structure or whether to proceed. It usually covers financial, legal, tax, commercial and operational areas, as well as ownership and control. ### What ownership checks should be done on a UK target? At a minimum: confirm the legal entity and its status, trace the group to its ultimate controllers through the PSC register and shareholder filings, review directors' other appointments and the disqualified directors register, and pull registered charges, judgments and property ownership across the group. ### Does ECCTA identity verification affect M&A due diligence? Yes. Since 18 November 2025, identity verification has been a legal requirement for directors and PSCs, and the transition period for existing directors and PSCs ends in November 2026. Unverified individuals commit an offence and cannot make filings for the company, so verification status is worth checking on every target. ### When should ownership checks start? Before you approach the target. 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