--- title: Private Equity Due Diligence Checklist for UK Add-Ons description: "A 10-point private equity due diligence checklist for UK add-on acquisitions: ownership, PSCs, directors, charges, CCJs, property and ID checks." image: https://www.probedigital.co.uk/hubfs/Person_Typing_On_Laptop_Keyboard__Cloud_Connectivity_Concept__Close_Up_original_2447215.jpg --- [Skip to content](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/blog/private-equity-due-diligence-checklist-for-uk-add-ons#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-foreign-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-foreign-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) [Start Search](https://app.probedigital.co.uk) [#BusinessRisk](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/blog/tag/businessrisk), [#UK\_companies](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/blog/tag/uk_companies), [#companies\_house](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/blog/tag/companies_house), [#KYC](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/blog/tag/kyc), [#DecisionIntelligence](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/blog/tag/decisionintelligence), [#Companies Search](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/blog/tag/companies-search), [#UK Companies Check](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/blog/tag/uk-companies-check), [#ComplianceRisk](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/blog/tag/compliancerisk), [#RegulatoryCompliance](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/blog/tag/regulatorycompliance), [#CorporateCompliance](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/blog/tag/corporatecompliance), [#AMLCompliance](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/blog/tag/amlcompliance) # Private Equity Due Diligence Checklist for UK Add-Ons [By \- James Sharpe,](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/blog/author/james-sharpe) Oct 08, 2026 ![](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/hubfs/Person_Typing_On_Laptop_Keyboard__Cloud_Connectivity_Concept__Close_Up_original_2447215.jpg) ***Add-on acquisitions now outnumber new UK private equity platform deals by about three to one, so every buy-and-build team needs a fast, repeatable way to check who owns, runs and controls each target.*** Private equity due diligence on an add-on has to answer the same questions as a platform deal, usually on a shorter timetable and a smaller budget: who really owns the target, who runs it, what it owes, what it owns, and whether anything in its history should change the price or the decision. This checklist sets out ten checks a UK deal team can run on every add-on, grouped into ownership, people, liabilities and assets, and monitoring. Run them in order at the screening stage and you will know before heads of terms whether a target needs a deeper look.   ## Why add-ons need their own due diligence routine Buy-and-build is where much of UK private equity's deal activity now sits. RSM UK's analysis of PitchBook data found 602 add-on deals in the first half of 2026, up 11% from 544 a year earlier, while platform buyouts fell from 238 to 195 ([RSM UK, 30 July 2026](https://www.rsmuk.com/news/private-equity-shows-resilience-as-add-on-deals-drive-h1-activity)). A platform deal usually gets a full advisory team. An add-on is often a founder-owned business bought by a portfolio company that has done several deals already, with management keen to complete quickly. The financial and legal workstreams still happen, but the background work on ownership and control is easy to compress. That is where problems hide: a corporate shareholder that leads somewhere unexpected, a director with a run of failed companies, a charge over the assets that nobody mentioned, or a freehold sitting in a connected company outside the deal perimeter. The answer is not more time. It is a standard set of checks, run the same way on every target, so the team can see quickly which add-ons are straightforward and which need escalating.   ## The 10-point add-on due diligence checklist ### Ownership and control 1. **Confirm the entity and its status.** Check the exact legal name, company number, registered office, incorporation date and status (active, in liquidation, subject to a strike-off proposal). Compare the trading name on the information memorandum with the company that will actually be bought. It is common for the trading business and the assets to sit in different entities. 2. **Trace every PSC to real people.** The register of people with significant control is the starting point, not the answer. Where a PSC is a corporate entity, follow the chain upward until you reach individuals, and note any overseas holding company where the trail becomes harder to follow. Our article on [why beneficial ownership checks miss the true UBO](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/blog/why-beneficial-ownership-checks-miss-the-true-ubo) covers the common gaps. 3. **Map the group and the companies around it.** List the target's subsidiaries and parent, then look sideways: other companies with the same directors, shareholders or registered address. Connected companies often hold property, intellectual property or key contracts that the buyer assumes are inside the deal. ### People 1. **Review directors' and shareholders' appointment histories.** Look at every current and recent director and significant shareholder, and what else they run or have run. Patterns worth a question include dissolved companies with unpaid creditors, previous insolvencies, frequent appointments and resignations, or the same people appearing across a cluster of short-lived companies. 2. **Check Companies House identity verification.** Under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, identity verification has been a legal requirement since 18 November 2025. Existing directors verify as part of the company's next confirmation statement, and a PSC who is not also a director provides their personal code within the first 14 days of their birth month ([GOV.UK](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/when-you-need-to-verify-your-identity-for-companies-house)). On 16 September 2026 the Insolvency Service secured its first convictions for directors acting while unverified ([GOV.UK](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/directors-warned-to-verify-identities-with-companies-house-following-first-insolvency-service-prosecutions)). Ask the sellers to confirm each director's and PSC's status, and treat a late confirmation statement as a reason to look harder. 3. **Screen owners and directors for sanctions and adverse media.** Run sanctions and politically exposed person checks on the individuals at the top of the ownership chain, not only the company. Add an adverse media search on the names and the business. If the add-on brings overseas shareholders or customers into the group, extend the screening accordingly. ### Liabilities and assets 1. **Pull registered charges and check what is satisfied.** Review every charge registered against the target and its subsidiaries. Confirm which are outstanding, which lenders hold them, and whether charges that should have been released on earlier refinancings are still showing. Unsatisfied charges are a common completion-day surprise. 2. **Search for CCJs and court judgments.** Check for county court judgments against the target, its group companies and, where appropriate, the directors' other companies. A pattern of judgments can point to slow payment, disputes with suppliers or customers, or cash pressure that the accounts do not yet show. 3. **Identify property ownership, in the UK and overseas.** Establish which properties the target occupies and who owns them. Freeholds held by a director, a connected company or an overseas entity change the deal: they may need a separate purchase, a new lease, or a clear understanding of who controls the landlord. ### Through completion and beyond 1. **Monitor until completion and into integration.** Ownership, officers, charges and filings can change between heads of terms and completion. Put the target and its connected companies on a watchlist, re-run the key checks before signing, and keep monitoring after completion while the business is integrated into the group.   ## How to make the checklist repeatable across a buy-and-build The value of a checklist comes from using it the same way every time. Three habits help: - **Set escalation triggers in advance.** Agree which findings move a target from "standard" to "enhanced" due diligence, for example an overseas corporate PSC, a director with previous insolvencies, or unsatisfied charges from more than one lender. - **Keep one evidence pack per target.** Save the ownership chain, director histories, charges, judgments and property findings in one place, with the date of each check. It makes investment committee papers quicker to write and gives the lawyers a clear starting point. - **Screen the pipeline in bulk.** Platform companies that review dozens of potential add-ons a year can run first-pass checks across the whole target list at once, then spend advisory budget only on the names that pass. If your team already uses a checklist for larger transactions, our [M&A due diligence checklist for corporate development](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/blog/ma-due-diligence-checklist-for-corporate-development) covers the wider deal process, and [9 platform features PE teams need for enhanced due diligence](https://www.probedigital.co.uk/blog/9-platform-features-pe-teams-need-for-enhanced-due-diligence) sets out what to look for in the tools behind it.   ## Frequently asked questions ### What is the difference between platform and add-on due diligence? The questions are the same: ownership, control, people, liabilities and assets. The difference is scale and speed. Add-ons are smaller and often completed by a portfolio company on a compressed timetable, so the checks need to be standardised and quick to run. ### Is the PSC register enough to confirm who owns a UK company? No. It records people with significant control as reported by the company. Where a PSC is a corporate entity, you need to trace the chain to individuals, and you should compare the register with shareholdings, filings and other sources. ### Do directors of the target need to have verified their identity? Since 18 November 2025, new directors must verify before acting, and existing directors verify when the company files its next confirmation statement. PSCs have their own 14-day windows. Check the current position on GOV.UK and ask the sellers to confirm each person's status. ### When should these checks be run? Run the core checks at screening, before heads of terms, so problems shape the offer rather than delay completion. Re-run them before signing and keep monitoring after completion.   *ProbeDigital brings UK ownership and control, group structures, directors, PSCs, charges, CCJs and property ownership into one view, with bulk portfolio audits for buy-and-build pipelines. 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