White Deer Management (White Deer), a PE firm headquartered in Houston, has obtained a declination following self-disclosure of violations of sanctions and export laws committed by a recent acquisition, the first of its kind under the M&A safe harbor provisions of the DOJ National Security Division’s Enforcement Policy for Business Organizations (Policy). In its pre-closing due diligence of Unicat Catalyst Technologies, a supplier of catalyst products used in petrochemical refining and steel mills based in Alvin, Texas, White Deer missed a crucial document. As a result, the firm was unaware of Unicat’s dealings with customers in Iran, Syria, Cuba and Venezuela until well after the deal closed. This article examines how the Policy functions in practice and the compliance takeaways for PE firms and other acquirers. See “Investment Adviser Avoids Civil Penalty Due to Self-Reporting, Remediation and Cooperation: True, False or Other?” (Oct. 31, 2024).