ACCELERATORS

Exit Readiness Service

Surface and mitigate technical risks in your PE-backed business early to avoid devaluation and credibility problems at exit

Codurance consultant speaking with clients at an event, hero image for the Exit Readiness Service for PE-backed businesses

You’re in good company

A massive thank you for preparing our business for the tech due diligence: today we completed on the sale. The work Codurance did was absolutely invaluable – the auditors commented specifically on the quality of the documentation. After all the preparation we did together, the presentation to the buyer passed without issues.

CTO

Recently exited PE-backed B2B technology business · Exit Readiness engagement

Codurance is a valued delivery partner across multiple portfolio companies for diligence, turn­around and new product development technology projects.

Jonathan Morris

CTO In Residence, Private Equity

Codurance provided us with a clear, structured and highly insightful assessment of AI risk and opportunity across our portfolio.

Steve Harrison

Partner, YFM Equity Partners

WHY IT MATTERS

Technical issues kill exit timelines and erode valuations

PE firms require a full technology and AI audit during every fundraising and exit process. Businesses that start early are the ones that exit cleanly, at the multiple they planned for, without the fire drill.

0%
of businesses have tech-related issues immediately after acquisition affecting future valuation.
0%
deal success for companies that undertake exit readiness. 
0%
global acquisitions experienced delays triggered by technical risks discovered late.
0%
of CIOs globally discovered major issues during Tech Due Diligence.

THE SERVICE

A structured programme – not a one-off audit

Codurance's Exit Readiness programme runs across three phases, starting 12–18 months before an anticipated exit. We surface material technical risks early, embed ongoing governance discipline, and ensure your technology narrative is defensible under buyer scrutiny from the moment formal due diligence begins.

|  Drive valuation early. Prove the value creation vision is technically credible and achievable before buyers challenge it.

 

|  Increased buyer confidence. Demonstrate realised technology value, controlled risk, and scalable, resilient growth.

 

|  Reduce exit disruption. Avoid the technical fire alarm so diligence isn't a management distraction at the worst possible moment.

 

|  Strengthen the exit narrative. Show technology as a credible engine of growth, scalability, and enterprise value, not a risk item.

 

|  Create board-level visibility. A clear view of value creation risk across technology and the business throughout the journey.

THREE PHASES TO DRIVE VALUE FLOW

PHASE 1 – START HERE
Growth Diagnostic

Review existing collateral, identify work to be completed and associated risks in the tech estate. Deliver a board-level dashboard and plan next steps. Typically 3–6 weeks depending on company size.

PHASE 2 – ONGOING

Value Acceleration

Regular quarterly check-ins to review progress against actions, revisit the risk profile, and update the board picture. Maintain accountability and momentum between the diagnostic and exit.

PHASE 3 – PRE-SALE

Exit Optimisation

Final review and remediation activities in approach to the sale. Final preparation of the virtual data room and board sign-off as sale ready. You enter formal due diligence in control.

WHAT WE ASSESS

Six control domains – the ones buyers scrutinise most

Our assessment covers the control domains that determine whether a buyer increases or discounts their offer: strategy, architecture, governance, resilience, financial transparency, and organisational depth.

Illustrative RAG heatmap showing an exit readiness board position across six control domains, with statuses from controlled to high risk and three remediation priorities
 DOMAIN 1

Product Market Advantage_iconProduct Market Advantage

 

Does the proposition win in a faster, AI-accelerated landscape? Assess competitive positioning against emerging entrants, differentiation clarity and AI-repositioned roadmap aligned to growth. 

Stronger investor narrative. Clearer multiple justification.

DOMAIN 2

Step 3 Value Creation RoadmapRoadmap Execution Power

 

Can the team convert the product vision into reliable, scalable delivery?
Assess delivery predictability, team capability depth, leadership maturity and dependency plus key-person risk. 


Investors back execution certainty.

DOMAIN 3

Scalable Platform Architecture_iconScalable Platform Architecture

 

Can the platform withstand growth without a structural rebuild?
Assess scalability headroom, modularity and extensibility, technical bottlenecks and future feature velocity constraints. 

Supports aggressive growth without margin erosion.

DOMAIN 4

Technical Debt as Strategic InvestmentTechnical Debt as Strategic Investment

 

Is your tech debt hidden and unmanaged?
Assess debt visibility, prioritisation, refactoring vs innovation trade-offs, cost of delay and the balance between enhancement and remediation spend.

Capital deployed into tech produces uplift.

DOMAIN 5

Data & AI Growth ReadinessData &
AI Growth Readiness

 

Do you require an AI audit as part of exit due diligence?
Assess data integrity, governance, AI feature feasibility, monetisation potential and whether data architecture is robust to support a premium exit narrative.

Valuation defensibility in a world where AI is table stakes.

DOMAIN 6

Operational Resilience Under HypergrowthOperational Resilience Under Hypergrowth

 

Can service quality and margins be maintained at scale?
Assess infrastructure scalability, DevOps maturity, observability and uptime, and the cost-per-user trajectory as the business scales into the investment thesis.

 

Protects EBITDA while scaling revenue.

WHAT YOU GET

Board-ready deliverables you can rely on

Everything we produce is designed to survive buyer scrutiny. Findings are specific, evidence-based, and built around the six control domains buyers will examine, delivering a defensible technical control position to be relied upon.

  • A RAG heatmap across all six control domains 

  • A 90-day stabilisation priority list and a 12-month readiness roadmap

  • A quarterly refreshed board-ready risk pack 

  • A Diligence Evidence Pack 

  • A formal exit readiness statement 

Illustrative board position

Illustrative example, your board position will reflect findings specific to your organisation, deal context, and anticipated exit timeline.

HOW IT WORKS

From gap analysis to exit-hardened – four stages

A structured programme that starts long before the deal room opens, designed to fit around your business without disruption, helping you enter due diligence in control, not catch-up mode.

  • Step 1

    Executive framing

    Includes acceptance criteria, scope boundaries, alignment on priorities and expectations. 

  • Step 2

    Growth diagnostic

    Domain interviews, evidence review, data room audit and control validation across all six domains. 

  • Step 3

    Value acceleration

    Quarterly check-ins validate remediation progress, refresh the risk heatmap, update financial exposure.
  • Step 4

    Exit optimisation

    Pre-DD revalidation on all six domains, buyer-lens stress testing, data room confirmation and formal exit readiness statement. 

Gaps identified. Now what?

The Growth Diagnostic often surfaces risks that need active remediation. Codurance can work alongside your team to close those gaps: modernising legacy platforms, improving delivery practices, building the data and AI narrative a buyer expects to see.

We’re not an audit firm that hands over a report and leaves. We have the engineering depth to help you fix what we find and a track record of doing exactly that in
PE-backed businesses where the clock is ticking.

TYPICAL NEXT ENGAGEMENTS - LED BY CODURANCE EXPERTS

Software modernisation & technical debt reduction

Remediating codebase and architectural issues, improving scalability, key-person dependency, stabilising the platform.

AI and data capability transformation  

Building the data governance, AI adoption, and engineering AI maturity that PE firms now expect to see.

Engineering capability & delivery uplift

Lift delivery predictability, reduce cycle time and build the depth of engineering leadership that buyers value.

FAQs

If you can’t find the answer you are looking for here, please contact us

 

Who is this for?

The Exit Readiness Service is designed for PE-backed businesses and their investors preparing for an exit, typically 12 to 18 months out. It suits management teams, boards, and operating partners who want to enter formal due diligence in control, with technical risks surfaced and mitigated long before buyers find them. 
How long does the Exit Readiness programme take?
The programme runs across three phases. It starts with a Growth Diagnostic, typically 3 to 6 weeks depending on company size, followed by ongoing quarterly Value Acceleration check-ins, and concludes with Exit Optimisation in the approach to sale.Ideally, the full programme begins 12 to 18 months before an anticipated exit. 
What do we receive at the end?

Board-ready deliverables designed to survive buyer scrutiny: a RAG heatmap across all six control domains, a 90-day stabilisation priority list, a 12-month readiness roadmap, a quarterly refreshed board-ready risk pack, a Diligence Evidence Pack, and a formal exit readiness statement confirming you are sale ready. 
Why is exit readiness important?

Technical issues kill exit timelines and erode valuations 85% of businesses have tech-related issues discovered immediately after acquisition that affect future valuation, and 30% of global acquisitions have experienced delays triggered by technical risks discovered late. Businesses that prepare early exit cleanly, at the multiple they planned for, without the fire drill. 
What does the assessment cover?

Six control domains, the ones buyers scrutinise most: product market advantage, roadmap execution power, scalable platform architecture, technical debt as strategic investment, data and AI growth readiness, and operational resilience under hypergrowth.Together these determine whether a buyer increases or discounts their offer. 
What happens if gaps are identified?

Codurance works alongside your team to close them.We are not an audit firm that hands over a report and leaves; we have the engineering depth to fix what we find, from modernising legacy platforms and reducing technical debt to building the data and AI capability buyers expect to see. 
Why Codurance?

Codurance combines assessment rigour with delivery capability, grounded in software craftsmanship developed over 13+ years.We are a valued partner across multiple PE portfolio companies for diligence, turnaround, and technology delivery, and our engagements have directly supported completed exits, with buyers commenting on the quality of documentation produced. 

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Get in touch

Talk to Codurance to start preparing your business for a successful exit.