6.0 Finance
Corporate finance for your company's defining moment
Sale, acquisition, investor entry or turnaround: technical advisory for the transactions that define your business's future, with the preparation that protects the value you built.
Languages: Portuguese and English · Focus: M&A and transactions · Last updated: July 2026
Corporate finance is the practice that advises a company on transactions and structural capital decisions: mergers and acquisitions, business sales, business valuations, due diligence, IPO preparation, and turnaround studies. At PFM, the service serves the middle market, including transactions between Brazilian companies and foreign groups.
Scope
What's included in PFM's corporate finance?
The service covers three fronts: transactions, advisory on business sales, mergers and acquisitions, and IPOs, analysis and valuation, business valuations, due diligence and turnaround studies, and preparation, organizing the company’s accounting and corporate structure before going to market.
6.1
Transactions
- Business sale and closing advisory
- M&A advisory
- IPO advisory
- Negotiation support with buyers and investors
6.2
Analysis and valuation
- Business valuations
- Due diligence, buy-side and sell-side
- Turnaround studies
- Transaction operational services
6.3
Preparation
- Pre-transaction accounting and corporate organization
- Data room structuring
- Early fixes to the issues that cut price
- Integration with Risk Management and Tax Advisory
Who it's for
Who is PFM's corporate finance advisory for?
The service serves middle-market business owners preparing a full or partial sale, or an investor’s entry, and buyers and investors, Brazilian or foreign, who need independent due diligence and valuation before closing a transaction in Brazil.
Owners preparing a sale or capital raise
A lifetime’s business going to market, where every accounting gap becomes a price discount.
- Well-grounded valuation, not guesswork
- Data room organized before the buyer asks
- Liabilities known and addressed beforehand
- Negotiation supported end to end
Buyers and investors
An acquisition in Brazil without deep due diligence is a liability waiting to surface.
- Integrated accounting, tax and labor due diligence
- Independent valuation of the target
- Risks quantified for the negotiating table
- Support through post-closing integration
Comparison
What's the difference between going to market unprepared and with PFM?
Without preparation, the buyer’s due diligence finds the surprises first, and each one becomes a discount, a holdback, or a warranty clause. With preparation, the company reaches the market with auditable, consistent numbers and known liabilities already addressed: negotiations start from actual value, not perceived risk.
| Criteria | Going to market unprepared | Preparation with PFM |
|---|---|---|
| Perceived valuation | Discounted for risk and disorganization | Backed by consistent, auditable numbers |
| Buyer due diligence | Surprises turn into discounts and holdbacks | Liabilities known and addressed beforehand |
| Deal timeline | Stretches with every unforeseen request | A ready data room shortens the process |
| Negotiating power | Reactive, responds to the buyer's read | Proactive, controls the numbers narrative |
| Post-closing | Disputes over warranties and price adjustments | A planned transition, less litigation |
Method
How does a PFM-advised transaction work?
The advisory follows four steps: understanding the owner’s or investor’s objective, preparation and valuation, running the transaction with due diligence and negotiation, and closing with transition support, each step with clear deliverables and communication in Portuguese or English.
01
Understanding the objective
Full or partial sale, capital raise, acquisition or turnaround, the transaction design starts with the decision-maker’s objective.
02
Preparation and valuation
Organizing the numbers, a well-grounded business valuation, and early fixes to the issues that cut price.
03
Running the transaction
Due diligence, data room, technical support to negotiation, and coordination with each party’s legal advisors.
04
Closing and transition
Support with closing adjustments and post-transaction integration, so the deal delivers what was agreed.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about corporate finance and M&A
Corporate finance advises companies on transactions and structural capital decisions: buying or selling a business, mergers and acquisitions, investor entry, valuation, due diligence and turnaround. The role is technical and led: organizing the numbers, quantifying risk, and supporting the negotiation.
Ideally one to two years before going to market. That’s the time needed to organize accounting, address tax and labor liabilities, document controls, and build a track record of reliable numbers, the factors that most influence a buyer’s perceived valuation.
Due diligence is the detailed investigation, accounting, tax, labor and operational, that a buyer performs before closing a transaction. Every risk found becomes a price discount, a holdback, or a warranty clause. That’s why the seller’s prior preparation is worth, literally, money.
Yes. For buyers and investors, PFM runs integrated due diligence, accounting, tax and labor, independent valuation of the target, and risk quantification for the negotiating table, including foreign groups acquiring Brazilian companies.
A valuation is the financial assessment that estimates a company’s worth based on recognized methods, such as discounted cash flow and market multiples, applied to the business’s actual numbers. It serves as the technical basis for negotiations, investor entry, succession, and shareholder disputes.
It does, the middle market is exactly where Brazil’s M&A activity is most intense, including sector consolidators and funds seeking companies your size. What changes is the need for preparation: at this size, prior organization of the numbers weighs proportionally more on price.
Related services
Natural complements to this service
Your company's value is defended through preparation
Schedule a confidential conversation. In one meeting, we understand your objective and design the transaction roadmap.