Glossary · Deal documents
Teaser
Also called blind teaser
Definition
A teaser is the first document a possible buyer sees in a sale process: one or two pages on what the business does, its size and why it is for sale. It is often anonymous (a blind teaser). Buyers who are interested sign an NDA and then receive the information memorandum.
Where teaser comes up
On this site, in our guides and in the conversations we've written up.
Video · DealRoom How a small corp dev team uses AI, from blind teasers to document review When a blind teaser lands at Sellers Dorsey, the corporate development team pastes it into a large language model and asks which company it thinks this is, based on the context in the teaser. 
Video · Datasite Why industrial M&A froze in the 2020 lockdown, from a turnaround buyer Banks kept preparing teasers, information memoranda, pitch books and now videos of manufacturing plants while live processes slowed dramatically. 
Video · Datasite Why seller preparation, not financing, now sets the pace of M&A That analysis then runs through the whole marketing suite, from the teaser and information memorandum to the management presentation. 
Video · The Motley Fool Datasite's CEO on what deal data shows and where AI agents fit in M&A On the buy side, his example is mid-market private equity, which gets many teasers and CIMs. Related terms
Confidential information memorandum The detailed sales document a seller's adviser sends to buyers after they sign an NDA. Non-disclosure agreement A contract in which the receiving party promises to keep the information it is given confidential. Sell-side The seller's side of a deal: the company or owners selling, and the advisers who run the sale for them. Asset purchase agreement The contract for buying selected assets and liabilities of a business, instead of its shares. Change of control clause A contract term that lets the other party end or renegotiate the contract if the company is sold. Disclosure letter The seller's list of known exceptions to its warranties, which limits what the buyer can later claim for. Indemnity A promise to repay a specific loss in full, often used for known risks found in due diligence. Letter of intent A mostly non-binding document that sets out the main terms of a deal before the final contract is negotiated.