In fall 2018, Johan Berg-Svendsen and Jørgen Bøhn founded the company Veridian and its subsidiaries Veridian Analyse AS and Veridian Corporate AS. At that time, the emphasis was on capitalising on the synergies between the professional fields of valuation, property development, and value optimisation in commercial real estate, as well as strategic consulting and business development in M&A and Corporate Finance. The company is now going one step further and expanding our financial and technical due diligence services for commercial real estate.

“Combining traditional Corporate Finance with commercial real estate may not be too common, but we saw synergies in analytical methodology, expertise, and client base”, says Partner Johan Berg-Svendsen. Expanding our services in due diligence is thus a natural development based on our existing expertise and our services.

“Our Corporate Finance team holds extensive experience in due diligence, having assisted in over 100 transactions of various companies and properties since the year 2000”, says Partner Jørgen Bøhn. Understanding what factors are important, absolutely crucial, and cost-driving in a property transaction requires comprehension, not to mention a long track record.

The company has recruited Bjarki Reyr to lead this new venture in technical due diligence. Reyr comes with thorough technical construction expertise and extensive experience from both the consulting and the client side, including Basale, Steen & Strøm, and BER. “We have chosen to continue using external cooperating partners in related technical fields, such as HVAC, electrical, and fire safety consulting”, says Reyr. We seek to be the best at our core competencies, and we support this internally. Similarly, we work with selected technical specialists, who serve as our strategic cooperating partners on a project basis.

Bjarki Reyr

In practice, financial and technical due diligence is extended property analyses generally conducted in connection with a transaction. Numerous assumptions and caveats are often made in valuation, resulting in incomplete information. “These are the same elements that are reviewed, quality-controlled, and clarified in a DD process”, says Berg-Svendsen. The goal is to give the purchaser or the seller the most accurate representation of the property by uncovering elements of risk and any irregularities that must be clarified or addressed in future negotiations.

“We have always been concerned with preparing thoroughly written reports that are comprehensible to professional real estate parties and clients who do not hold real estate expertise”, says Berg-Svendsen. Our reports must satisfy strict internal quality requirements for integrity and objectivity. From experience, we know that this builds trust and security in transactions.

One challenge in due diligence processes is the coordination between legal, financial, and technical sections. The boundaries of each profession can be vague, which may lead to double work or misunderstandings. “Our extensive experience in the commercial real estate market, not to mention our network among leading legal firms, makes the process agile and efficient without this coming at the expense of the final product”, Johan Berg-Svendsen concludes.

Jørgen Bøhn og Johan Berg-Svendsen