Personally, I would always put a strong emphasis on the numbers. If there is a huge gap between the two I would try to understand why and where the disconnect happens. In my view a very good HR DD should correlate somehow with the financial DD except if the acquirer is ready to pay a huge premium or crazy price to enter a market, acquire R&D knowledge and/or keep at bay competition. However, in these last scenarios, I assume this is why an M&A deal destroys value instead of creating value when the integration does not go as planned (value vs price). Another risky aspect of a very good HR DD and bad Financial DD is the cultural gap and employees leaving the boat post-acquisition, the acquirer is then left with not much. Also to point, a funny and side aspect, if the people in this potential target are so great when comparing to the acquiring company… what is the issue with the acquiring company then?
