ESG Social Due Diligence (M&A)

Section 1: The Evolution of Due Diligence

• Understand how M&A due diligence expanded beyond financial and legal checks to include ESG, and why that shift affects deal value.

Section 2: Linking ESG DD to Corporate Purpose

• Examine how a buyer's own sustainability ambition shapes the scope and depth of ESG due diligence on a target.

Section 3: Red-Flag Checks and Initial Screening

• Learn the three-step initial screening process, covering future fitness, media scans, and governance maturity, that surfaces major ESG risks before a deep dive.

Section 4: Workforce and Labor Standards

• Apply structured inquiry into a target's labor standards, covering modern slavery compliance, fair wages, grievance mechanisms, and collective bargaining.

Section 5: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

• Evaluate a target's DE&I commitments by examining board composition, targeted hiring practices, and bias mitigation policies.

Section 6: Supply Chain Integrity and Community Engagement

• Assess how a target manages social risks across its supply chain and how it responds to impacts on local and indigenous communities.

Section 7: Governance as the Engine of Purpose

• Review governance structures, including board oversight, executive incentives, and code of conduct monitoring, that determine whether stated ESG values are real.

Section 8: Challenges, Best Practices, and Post-Closing Integration

• Navigate common implementation hurdles, apply best-practice approaches, and use due diligence findings to design a post-closing value creation plan.

Section 9: Knowledge Check

• Test your understanding through scenario-based questions and consolidate your learning with a closing summary of the course's key principles and takeaways.

At the end of this course, you will be able to:

• Identify the key social and governance risk areas that require investigation during M&A due diligence.
• Apply a structured framework to assess a target company's labor practices, diversity and inclusion commitments, supply chain integrity, and community engagement.
• Evaluate governance mechanisms, including board oversight and executive incentive structures, for alignment with ESG commitments.
• Distinguish between ESG due diligence as a risk-mitigation exercise and as a tool for post-closing value creation.
• Develop a post-closing integration approach that uses due diligence findings to drive concrete improvements.