Due diligence does not remove risk. It identifies and prices it.

The problem

Transactions fail on the same points repeatedly: seller authority not verified, stale measurements, samples that cannot be traced to cask identities, unclear treatment of storage arrears, a buyer the warehouse will not recognise, and a price agreed before destination costs are understood.

What Celtica reviews

• Counterparty — legal identity, authority, ownership, financial capacity, relevant authorisations
• Title and documentation — ownership chain, contracts, invoices, asset schedules, warehouse records, charges, liens and consistency of cask identities and dates
• Measurement — currency and consistency of volume and ABV data, and the effect of variance on value and yield
• Quality — sample traceability, sensory review, laboratory data where needed, cask condition and batch consistency
• Regulatory and excise position — duty status, warehouse movements, category and labelling requirements for the intended destination
• Operational — warehouse acceptance, bottling capacity, dry-goods lead times, freight availability
• Market and concentration — buyer depth, and exposure to a single age, style, distillery or buyer

What you receive

A written review that separates what is evidenced from what is asserted, identifies the specific gaps, states what each gap could cost, and sets out what would close it. Where a matter is legal, tax or excise in nature, Celtica identifies it and recommends the appropriate professional adviser rather than opining on it.

Who instructs Celtica

Buyers and sellers in negotiation, lenders assessing security, office-holders testing an asset position, and advisers requiring a specialist commercial view.

Deliverables

• A written review separating what is evidenced from what is asserted
• Counterparty, title, measurement, quality, regulatory and operational findings
• A gap list stating what each gap could cost and what would close it
• Cask-identity and document reconciliation
• A recommendation on whether, and on what terms, to proceed

Scope and limitations

Celtica provides commercial due diligence. It does not provide legal, tax or excise advice, and identifies those matters for referral rather than opining on them.