> People decide they want to buy something, and then try to get it for a good price, and try to have it so that due dilligence works to reduce the purchase pric

> People decide they want to buy something, and then try to get it for a good price, and try to have it so that due dilligence works to reduce the purchase price, while not actually finding anything to block the deal. Perhaps in public company acquisitions there's more sophistication, but I really doubt that. That's indeed how it works in my experience. Thay's also why, as a seller, you want to invest a lot of time making sure that the due diligence scoresheet will be as clean as possible - because then, there can be no mechanical way for a prospective buyer to lower the price: only their belief against that of other prospective buyers...