At DCo, we remain committed to GCA Savvian Group's Management Philosophy of becoming the "Trusted Advisor For Client's Best Interest".

Financial due diligence for M&A transactions has been generally conducted by the audit team or the transaction service teams of auditing firms. However, after US corporate reform laws were enacted (Sarbanes-Oxley Act), demand for stronger independence towards auditing firms as auditors have increased. Although due diligence is not considered a service that violates the independence of auditing firms today, as the number of large audit firms decrease and underlying conflicts of interest continue to exist, an established system that meets the various needs of clients who utilize M&A as a viable strategy is strongly lacking in the Japanese M&A market.

Moreover, as we see a trend towards compulsory IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standard) reporting for Japanese enterprises in the future, the risk of purchased goodwill impairment is expected to rise as the present rule of periodic amortization will soon be prohibited. In order to avoid such impairment, it is important to avoid overpaying the purchase price as well as making sure the accurately valuated goodwill continues to create value while avoiding value deterioration after the purchase. This is key to a successful M&A deal. In this way, the importance of the due diligence process is likely to grow substantially, as it allows direct access to target companies during M&A transactions.

DCo is an independent team of professionals dedicated to providing due diligence services as its core specialty not as an auditing firm but to provide solutions to the various needs of clients who wish to realize a successful M&A transaction. Our independent position free of any affiliation to any keiretsu auditing group allows us to be autonomous from any operational restraints and provide high added-value services. We strongly believe that by utilizing our highly specialized skills and rich experience we can achieve the best interest of our clients based on the philosophy of becoming a "Trusted Advisor For Client's Best Interest"