What is a confidential information memorandum (CIM)?
A confidential information memorandum (CIM) is the document a seller's banker sends to prospective buyers, after they sign a nondisclosure agreement, describing the business for sale. It covers the company's history, services, customers, management team, financial results, projections and growth case. It is a marketing document: it informs bids but is neither a binding offer nor a valuation.
Why it matters to a revenue leader
The CIM is where the sales story becomes the sale story. Buyers will test its projections against the pipeline, renewal data and customer concentration they see later in diligence. If the CRO's forecast and the CIM's projections disagree, buyers find out, and their confidence in the whole plan drops. Read the commercial sections before the document goes out, since that is the cheapest moment to fix a number that will not hold.
Example
Fictitious numbersA CIM for an environmental testing company projects revenue growth from $45M to $60M over three years, citing new municipal agreements. Before it goes to 40 buyers, the CRO supports the projection with signed backlog, renewal history and named pipeline.
"Could I defend every revenue projection in our CIM with data a buyer can check?"
Sources
- CIM: Confidential Information Memorandum checked 9 Oct 2026
- Investment Teaser checked 9 Oct 2026