Editorial series
Inside Corporate Finance: The Advisory Side of the Deal
Complete 10-part editorial series — financing readiness, the choice between debt and equity, what capital providers screen first, use of funds, valuation, preparation, management meetings, offer quality, momentum and closing discipline.
Andrea Battista LL.M. · Edition of 2026-09-22
About this web edition
This web edition structures Andrea Battista’s original 10-part LinkedIn series as a navigable reference: each part keeps its original text and gains its own page, chapter navigation and a short editorial summary written from that same text.
The complete series
- Part 01A Good Company Is Not Always an Investable CompanyWhy a profitable, well-run business still has to become investable: a reconciled financial story, capital that fits the plan, governance a third party can rely on, and management able to explain the transaction.
- Part 02Debt or Equity? Choosing the Right Capital for the BusinessHow the choice between debt and equity follows from what the capital finances: visible repayment capacity, the real cost of dilution, hybrid answers and the balance sheet the company already carries.
- Part 03What Investors and Lenders Actually Look At FirstThe first questions investors and lenders ask: how the business earns money, whether history supports the forecast, how cash behaves behind EBITDA, existing leverage, concentration and management consistency.
- Part 04Use of Funds: Why “Growth” Is Not a Financing StrategyHow an amount becomes an investment plan: allocating the proceeds, separating capital expenditure from operating losses, connecting each euro to a measurable result, and sizing and timing the request.
- Part 05Valuation Is Not Just a NumberWhat a valuation actually expresses: the perimeter being valued, the limits of multiples, the quality of EBITDA, credible growth, risk, market boundaries and the structures that bridge a gap.
- Part 06Why Preparation Often Determines the Outcome of a DealHow preparation shapes the result: first materials that establish trust, a data room organised for review, a business plan that survives questioning, weaknesses addressed early and management genuinely ready.
- Part 07The Management Meeting: When the Numbers Meet the PeopleWhat the management meeting is really testing: command of the numbers rather than memorisation, consistency across the team, the handling of difficult questions and the working relationship being formed.
- Part 08The Highest Offer Is Not Always the Best OfferWhy headline value and executable value differ: the price of conditionality, financing certainty, timing, the terms that surround a valuation and the quality of the counterparty.
- Part 09Why Deals Lose MomentumWhere transactions slow down: delays that change perception, friction between too many advisers, moving terms, unresolved internal disagreements, diligence fatigue, absent decision-makers and silence.
- Part 10What Makes a Deal Actually Close?What closing actually requires: a transaction both sides want, numbers that survive diligence, funding that is real, aligned decision-makers, documentation that records the deal and owners for every open problem.
The financing questions at a glance
- Investability
- The gap between running a good business and being ready to receive capital.
- Debt or equity
- Matching the instrument to what the capital finances and to repayment capacity.
- First screening
- Revenue model, historical performance, cash conversion, leverage and concentration.
- Use of funds
- The allocation that turns a requested amount into an investment plan.
- Valuation
- Perimeter, multiples, EBITDA quality, growth and risk behind a single figure.
- Preparation
- Materials, data room and management readiness before the market is approached.
- Offer quality
- Comparing offers on certainty, conditionality and timing, not only on price.
- Momentum
- The pace and information flow that keep a process credible to both sides.