So, you're putting your company up for sale. You or an
advisor that you've retained are inviting potential buyers to
have a look. Before you open the books or provide company contracts
and records for review, you need to have each potential buyer sign
a Confidentiality Agreement with your company and its principal
shareholders under which the buyer will agree to keep all
information disclosed to it about your company confidential in the
event that no transaction is ultimately entered into.
The Confidentiality Agreement will cover all confidential and
proprietary assets that your company has, including all customer
and supplier lists and information, pricing and costing
information, contracts, labour and employment agreements,
intellectual property information such as product formulae and
processes, trade secrets, patents, trademarks and copyrights and
all financial statements and other financial information. It should
cover these items both for the company itself and
