Ib Cim Builder

When to use

Use this when the process has moved past the teaser and NDA and you need the full marketing document that tells the company's story to qualified buyers. The CIM (also called the IM or "the book") is the primary selling document: it presents the business, market, management, financials, and growth plan in enough depth for a buyer to form an indication of interest.

Not for: the anonymous pre-NDA one-pager (use ib-teaser), the workbook of raw financials and assumptions (use ib-datapack-builder), or bid instructions (use ib-process-letter). Do not include the exact deal price in the CIM — value is set by the market through bids.

Method

1. Assemble the source set: audited financials, management model, org chart, customer/product data, and the deal team's positioning thesis.
2. Draft the executive summary last but place it first: the investment thesis in one to two pages a busy buyer can read alone.
3. Build the standard sections in order — company overview, industry/market, products & services, customers & suppliers, operations, management & employees, growth opportunities, historical financials, and projections. Decision point: for a carve-out, add a section on the standalone cost base and any transition services (TSA) needed; for a founder sale, add a management-continuity/transition plan.
4. Reconcile every number in the CIM to the datapack so financials, KPIs, and charts tie out to a single source.
5. State the basis of the projections (management case, assumptions, drivers) clearly — buyers underwrite the forward case, not the history.
6. Mark the document confidential on every page, tie it to the NDA, and control distribution through a tracked list.
7. Route through client and legal review; confirm no forward-looking claim is unsupportable before release.

Example

Sell-side of a B2B SaaS company. CIM led with a thesis: 90%+ gross retention, 30% ARR growth, and a large under-penetrated mid-market. Sections covered product architecture, a cohort-based ARR bridge, the competitive landscape, and a three-year management projection with stated assumptions (net revenue retention, sales-rep productivity, churn). Every ARR and EBITDA figure tied to the datapack. No price stated. Distributed only to NDA-signed parties via a tracked list.

Pitfalls

• Forward-looking claims the model or data room cannot substantiate; every projection assumption must be defensible in diligence.
• Financials in the CIM that do not tie to the datapack or the audited statements — a single reconciliation gap erodes buyer trust.
• Leaking negotiating leverage by stating or implying a target price; let bids set value.
• Weak distribution control — an untracked CIM circulating beyond NDA-signed parties is a confidentiality breach.

Output format

CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION MEMORANDUM — PROJECT <codename>
Prepared by <firm> | Subject to NDA dated <date> | CONFIDENTIAL — every page

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY / INVESTMENT HIGHLIGHTS
   - Thesis: <one paragraph>
   - Highlights: <5-7 bullets>
2. COMPANY OVERVIEW           <history, structure, footprint>
3. INDUSTRY & MARKET          <size, growth, drivers, competition>
4. PRODUCTS & SERVICES        <offering, IP, roadmap>
5. CUSTOMERS & SUPPLIERS      <concentration, retention, contracts>
6. OPERATIONS                 <facilities, tech, supply chain>
7. MANAGEMENT & EMPLOYEES     <org chart, key personnel, headcount>
8. GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES       <organic, M&A, new markets>
9. HISTORICAL FINANCIALS      <3-5 yrs, tied to datapack>
10. PROJECTIONS               <management case + stated assumptions>
APPENDICES                    <detailed financials, glossary>

Distribution log: <party | NDA date | sent date>

Reference

• Sell-side sequence: teaser -> NDA -> CIM -> IOI/first-round bids -> management meetings -> data room / diligence -> final bids -> exclusivity -> SPA / close.
• The CIM is the disclosed successor to the anonymous teaser; buyers use it to submit an Indication of Interest (IOI) with a preliminary value range.
• Standard section order runs from thesis (exec summary) through business (overview/market/products/customers/ops/management) to numbers (historicals then projections) with detail in appendices.
• Price is set by the market: the CIM sells the story and the forward case; the process letter, not the CIM, governs how and when buyers submit value.