Clause guide

Customer Concentration Clause

How customer concentration allocates risk, which wording controls, and what to verify in the signed agreement.

High attentionM&A Diligence
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  • How are customers, affiliates, and revenue periods defined?
  • Which losses, renewals, consents, or changes trigger a consequence?
  • How do diligence evidence, price adjustments, earnouts, and indemnity protections interact?
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Example clause for illustration only. Not legal advice.
Schedule 4.18 identifies each Material Customer, the revenue attributed to that customer for the stated periods, the governing contracts, renewal dates, termination rights, disputes, notices, and any known intent to reduce or discontinue business.
Overview

What this clause actually does

A customer-concentration provision addresses revenue dependence on identified customers or thresholds, often through representations, disclosure schedules, covenants, or closing conditions. There is no universal SBA percentage that makes concentration acceptable or unacceptable. Review the measurement period, customer grouping, churn and renewal data, contract assignability, lender analysis, and the remedy if a named customer leaves before closing.

Why it matters

Why people get burned by this clause

Customer concentration can change economics, timing, control, or remedies. Its effect turns on the signed wording, related sections, transaction facts, and applicable law; a market label or isolated sentence does not settle the result.

Red flags

What should make you slow down

  • The document does not clearly answer: How are customers, affiliates, and revenue periods defined?
  • The document does not clearly answer: Which losses, renewals, consents, or changes trigger a consequence?
  • The document does not clearly answer: How do diligence evidence, price adjustments, earnouts, and indemnity protections interact?
Where it appears

Where you usually see it

  • Asset purchase agreements
  • Stock and membership-interest purchase agreements
  • Disclosure schedules and material-contract schedules
  • Quality-of-earnings and lender diligence materials
  • Customer contracts, renewals, notices, and account records
Inkvex review

What the platform checks in the live contract

  • How are customers, affiliates, and revenue periods defined?
  • Which losses, renewals, consents, or changes trigger a consequence?
  • How do diligence evidence, price adjustments, earnouts, and indemnity protections interact?
Review questions

What to test against your deal

  • Confirm in the document: How are customers, affiliates, and revenue periods defined?
  • Confirm in the document: Which losses, renewals, consents, or changes trigger a consequence?
  • Confirm in the document: How do diligence evidence, price adjustments, earnouts, and indemnity protections interact?
Related reading

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FAQ

Common questions about this clause

What controls the effect of customer concentration?

The signed wording, definitions, exceptions, related provisions, governing law, and the transaction facts. Review the clause in that full context rather than relying on a general benchmark.

What should I verify in customer concentration?

How are customers, affiliates, and revenue periods defined? Which losses, renewals, consents, or changes trigger a consequence? How do diligence evidence, price adjustments, earnouts, and indemnity protections interact?

The bottom line

Treat customer concentration as a document-specific allocation of risk. Identify the trigger, scope, exceptions, procedure, and consequence, then verify consequential legal conclusions for the governing jurisdiction.

Use the clause in context

See how this clause behaves in the real contract.

The clause library gives you a starting point. Document analysis can surface relevant language, show related sections, and organize risk signals and follow-up questions for review against the source file.

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