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Intelligence branch — B2B & high-value

Investigative due diligence and business intelligence in Milan

Structured checks on individuals, companies and corporate groups. Before an M&A acquisition, an investment, a strategic partnership, or an executive appointment. Operating across Italy, Europe and the main international markets.

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Framing

When you need investigative due diligence

Classic due diligence — legal, tax, accounting — answers "is this company compliant?". Investigative due diligence answers a broader question: "who is really behind this company and this transaction?".

It is the difference between reading a balance sheet and reconstructing a network of interests, between verifying a deed and understanding a reputation, between trusting a CV and knowing who the candidate you are about to appoint really is.

In M&A transactions, joint ventures, entries into corporate groups, senior appointments and the selection of strategic suppliers, investigative due diligence is the layer that protects you from the most costly mistakes.

Audience

Who we work for

Corporations and industrial groups

M&A transactions, joint ventures, entries into corporate groups, selection of strategic suppliers, senior appointments.

Funds and family offices

Investment targets, complex counterparties, senior individuals, reputational exposure before taking an equity stake.

Law firms and compliance

Investigative support in extraordinary transactions, enhanced KYC, asset tracing for enforcement or clawback actions.

Scenarios

Typical use cases for investigative due diligence

  • An M&A transaction on an Italian target with opaque ownership structures requires verification of the UBOs before closing.
  • A fund is evaluating an entry into a foreign company and needs a reputational profile of the reference shareholders.
  • An industrial group needs to appoint a new CEO and completes the selection process with an independent external screening.
  • A family office needs to apply enhanced KYC to a counterparty in a sensitive jurisdiction.
  • A creditor holding an enforceable title is looking for assets attributable to a debtor, both in Italy and abroad.
  • A company begins a structured intelligence-gathering effort on a direct competitor ahead of a repositioning.
Pre-contractual

Pre-contractual due diligence

We verify the counterparty before the contract is signed.

Sources: qualified databases (Italian and foreign), public registers, open source, media, and targeted field checks where necessary.

What we analyse

  • actual ownership structures (UBO — ultimate beneficial owner)
  • corporate history, extraordinary transactions, significant litigation
  • insolvency proceedings, anti-mafia bans (interdittive antimafia), sanctions
  • consistency between declared turnover and operating structure
  • profile of senior individuals
Mergers & Acquisitions

Investigative M&A due diligence

In investigative M&A due diligence, the analysis goes beyond the accounting and legal picture: it reconstructs the target's reputation, the identity of the UBOs, undisclosed litigation, exposure to sensitive jurisdictions, and links with other extraordinary transactions.

It is critical in cross-border transactions (Italy ↔ Europe ↔ United States) and wherever the main asset is reputation (private equity, acquisitions of professional firms, luxury brands, fintech). Typical timeframe: 10-30 working days, in coordination with the M&A advisor and legal counsel.

Direct operations in Italy, and through qualified partners in the main European and international financial centres.

Reputational

Reputational due diligence

Reconstruction of the reputation of an individual or a company through open sources, documentary checks and qualified interviews (where appropriate).

Typical output: a reputational profile with sections on professional history, public exposure (media), litigation, network of business relationships, and areas of attention.

Uses: assessing partners, investment targets, candidates for senior roles, and counterparties in high-exposure transactions.

Business intelligence

Business intelligence and competitor analysis

Structured gathering of information on competitors, markets and products. Reconstruction of positioning, channels, commercial dynamics and pricing levers, where accessible from lawful sources.

This is not industrial espionage: it is the rigorous, documented version of what every serious company does anyway, carried out in a proportionate, lawful and orderly way.

Asset tracing

Asset tracing and debt recovery

Tracing of assets — real estate, company shares, accounts, vehicles — attributable to a debtor or a counterparty, in support of enforcement (artt. 474 et seq. c.p.c.) or clawback actions (art. 2901 c.c.).

We work in close coordination with the client's lawyer, so that the evidence gathered can be used directly in the proceedings.

Operations in Italy and abroad, with qualified investigative partners in the main European jurisdictions.

Executive screening

Executive pre-employment screening

When the role to be filled is a senior one — CEO, CFO, general counsel, managing director — the cost of a bad choice is high and often hidden. Investigative screening completes the selection process with an external, independent check.

All of this in compliance with the GDPR (Reg. UE 2016/679) and, where required, with the candidate's documented consent.

GDPR · documented consent

Scope of verification

  • verification of qualifications and professional-register memberships
  • consistency of the professional record
  • publications, media exposure, disputes
  • professional network
  • any known conflicts of interest
Enhanced Due Diligence

Enhanced KYC (Enhanced Due Diligence)

Where standard KYC procedures are not sufficient — high exposure, complex counterparties, sensitive jurisdictions — we apply enhanced KYC (Enhanced Due Diligence, EDD) for funds, private banks, family offices and high-exposure corporations, in line with the EU anti-money-laundering directives (D.lgs. 231/2007 as subsequently amended).

Checks on PEPs (Politically Exposed Persons), sanctioned individuals (OFAC, EU Consolidated and UN lists), source of funds, past reputation, and negative media exposure.

Process

Method and output

Typical timeframe: 5 to 15 working days. Complex or multi-jurisdiction cases: 3-6 weeks.

  1. Briefing

    With you and your legal team. Defining the objective: what you want to know, why, and for which decision.

  2. Verification plan

    Documentary scope, sources, jurisdictions involved.

  3. Execution

    Desk analysis (databases, open source, registers), supplemented where needed with on-the-ground checks.

  4. Report

    A structured document, with traced sources, a reliability scale for each element, and both summary and detail.

  5. Debrief

    With you. We remain available for additions or targeted follow-up work.

Frequently asked questions

Frequently asked questions

Answers to the recurring questions of those considering investigative due diligence or intelligence work in Milan.

What is the difference between legal due diligence and investigative due diligence?

Legal due diligence checks the formal compliance of deeds, contracts and financial statements. Investigative due diligence goes beyond the document: it reconstructs reputation, control relationships, extraordinary transactions, and the history of senior individuals. It is complementary, not alternative, and the two often work together within an acquisition or corporate-entry process, in line with ICC (International Chamber of Commerce) and ASIS best practice.

What is investigative M&A due diligence?

Investigative M&A due diligence is the strand of due diligence aimed at mergers and acquisitions (Mergers & Acquisitions). It answers questions that financial and legal due diligence do not cover: who the ultimate shareholders (UBOs) really are, what reputational disputes exist, and which risks do not appear in the financial statements. It is critical in cross-border transactions and in sensitive jurisdictions. Typical timeframe: 10-30 working days.

Can I commission due diligence on an executive candidate without informing them?

Some documentary checks can be carried out without notifying the candidate (public data, open sources). For checks that process non-public personal data, however, the candidate's explicit consent is required, in compliance with the GDPR (Reg. UE 2016/679 art. 6) and the guidelines of the Italian Data Protection Authority (Garante per la protezione dei dati personali). During the initial meeting we define together the applicable scope.

In which countries do you operate?

Directly in Italy. Through qualified investigative partners in the main European jurisdictions (Germany, France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Luxembourg) and in the United States, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. For more sensitive jurisdictions we assess the feasibility and lawfulness of the work on a case-by-case basis.

What sources do you use?

Professional databases on corporate structures and litigation (Cerved, LexisNexis, Dun & Bradstreet, World-Check), public registers (company, real-estate and judicial registers where accessible), media, qualified open source, and where relevant documentary and field checks. Every source is traced in the report with an indication of its reliability.

How much does investigative due diligence cost?

We do not publish price lists because every engagement is calibrated to its depth (simple pre-contractual versus multi-jurisdiction reputational), the number of individuals involved, and the access required to sources. After the initial briefing we provide a written quotation, normally within 48 working hours, with the scope, timeline and investment agreed in advance. With no changes along the way.

Can the information gathered be used in court?

Yes, when gathered in compliance with the law. Documentary sources and traced checks come together in a report with a chain of evidence. In asset-tracing and debt-recovery cases, the elements gathered are structured for use in enforcement (art. 474 et seq. c.p.c.) or clawback actions (art. 2901 c.c.), in coordination with your lawyer.
Let's talk

A first confidential conversation commits you to nothing

After the initial briefing we provide a written quotation, normally within 48 working hours. Operating base in Milan, engagements across Italy and abroad.

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