Given the ever-existing influence of governments and interventionist activities (both stimulants and constraints to commerce), many of GRAPH’s commercial diligence assignments include dedicated tracks that take a needed dive into public policy issues that can positively, or negatively, impact the prospects of the commercial enterprise. By complementing our traditional commercial diligence primary research, GRAPH is able to develop an integrated analysis that considers critical public policy factors.
Common core issues examined include:
- Prospects for legislation that can introduce tax advantages, government awards or other stimulants such as allowing, disallowing, or making more or less difficult the sale of a given good or service into domestic, local or foreign markets
- The character and shape of intended legislation
- Regulatory activity and intensity
- Intensions of legislators sitting on relevant committees
- Interpretation of existing legislation and regulations
- Target company performance in inspections, certification, or other regulatory activity
- Including performance relative to competitors and peer firms
GRAPH’s Public Policy Factors services operate across our sectors and niches within, and cover Federal, State and Municipal legislative, regulatory and executive office impact on the commercial prospects of acquisition target companies.
These services coordinate with our CDD to form integrated analyses of a client’s commercial investment thesis for an investment in a given operating asset or market.
With our U.S. headquartered office based in Washington, DC (and deeply networked) GRAPH is able to tap into core networks of active lobbyists, trade associations, attorneys, and public policy and affairs professionals "in the know" - and those who know and can point us to those in the know. These networks in DC have strong reach into Federal, State and Municipal level staff and elected officials, given the career paths and interdependencies that coordinate across government entities.
GRAPH does not participate in lobbying activity, but on connective tissue, and our Public Policy Factors primary and secondary research allows for investment committees to assess core issues for investments that will have dependencies associated with government policy.
Recent GRAPH Commercial Diligence projects - some early stage, some late stage - with dedicated tracks for Public Policy Factors include:
- Commodities trading
- Community solar
- Contingent labor staffing platform – labor considerations
- Contract packaging - site level environmental regulatory performance
- Cullet (glass containers) recycling and processing services
- District Energy
- Federal, state, and municipal contracting (equipment and services)
- Financial services compliance and risk management software
- Fire detection systems – Commercial
- FOIA business process management solutions
- GIG workers – labor compliance - Freelance/Gig labor online marketplace
- Government contracting – government staffing services and disadvantages in core markets given set asides
- Manufacturing execution systems – compliant to produce
- Marine safety equipment and services
- Oil and gas equipment and instrumentation
- Pipeline construction and maintenance
- Public sector civil penalty administration outsourcing
- Public sector recruitment and HR advisory services
- Recycle waste collection
- Residential utilities safety and compliance
- Sports data aggregation and services
- State based education
- Student safety - transportation services
- Underground infrastructure inspection services
- Used cooking oil
Projects extend beyond secondary research and interpretations of legislation and regulations and include primary interviews with key actors such as:
- Executive branch personnel
- Government research arms
- Legislative aids
- Legislators
- Lobbyists
- Regulators – policy writers
- Regulators – inspection and compliance personnel and leadership
- Trade association executives
