Checklist · Mergers & Acquisitions / Private Equity
Legal due diligence request list (share or asset acquisition)
Numbered request list for legal due diligence on an Australian share or asset acquisition, covering merger and foreign investment screening, contracts, employees, IP, privacy, AI systems, finance and disputes.
- Kind
- Checklist. Steps or checks to work through and tick off.
- Where it applies
- Australia
- AI use
- Green AI can do most of the drafting. A lawyer still reviews the result.
- Law stated as at
- 17 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked on 17 October 2026 against the 7 authorities it cites, for Australia.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Use at the start of a buy-side process to ask the seller for documents and information. Trim it to the deal’s size, sector and structure; a long generic list slows the process. Not a substitute for scoping materiality thresholds with the client.
How AI may be used
AI may tailor the list to the sector and structure and map it to the data room index. A lawyer sets the scope, period and materiality thresholds.
AI may
- Tailor and shorten the list for the target’s sector, size and the deal structure
- Map request numbers to the data room index and flag requests with no documents uploaded
- Draft follow-up requests from gaps found in the data room
AI must not
- Must not set materiality thresholds or decide that an area is out of scope
- Must not send requests to the seller without lawyer approval
- Must not process data room documents in a tool the data room rules or NDA do not permit
The lawyer checks
- Scope, review period and materiality thresholds agreed with the client and recorded
- Merger notification and foreign investment information requested early enough for the timetable
- Requests consistent with the confidentiality agreement and any clean team rules
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
Read the full text
The full text is for signed-in accounts. It is free. When you sign in you can:
- read the whole precedent, with its drafting notes beside it;
- copy it, or download it as a Word file or Markdown;
- add it to your firm’s knowledge base, so colleagues can find it;
- let the AI tools you connect read it from that knowledge base.
The summary, the law it rests on and the AI-use guidance above stay public. Privacy.
More in Mergers & Acquisitions / Private Equity
- Protocol for AI-assisted due diligence review, with client notice (tools, data-room terms, sampling, sign-off)
- AI systems and data warranties and indemnities for a share or asset sale agreement
- Vendor disclosure letter against sale agreement warranties
- Scheme of arrangement and takeover bid timetable and deal-protection checklist
- FIRB application information checklist and cover letter
All precedents for Mergers & Acquisitions / Private Equity · Tasks and AI use in this area