Good afternoon

I have a question about the type of financial information and manufacturing processed I have to show a possible investor.

Not long ago I was approached by a corporate finance institution and offered capital for a share of my business. As I get these type of offers all the time, of which none of them are serious, I asked the investor to put his offer in writing. He has since done it and now wants to see all my financial documents and processes I use to manufacture my products before proceeding with the capital investment.

The problem I have is that he has already made it known to me that he might approach my compition and invest with them, or alternatively start his own factory. Since his offer isn't binding to any party I fear that he is using this as a paper excersice only to get to know the finacial status of my business and learn trade secrets in order to improve his own manufacturing procrsses.

Naturally I'd like someone to invest in my bussiness and therefore, if the offer is real, I'd like for the investment to proceed. What I don't want is to show my inner workings to a potential competitor.

What information am I obliged to give to him and how can I safeguard myself from giving trade secrets to a potential competitor?

Kind regards
Jaco