Christopher Riegg is a partner at Promontory Point Capital with more than three decades of experience advising business owners and executive teams on mergers and acquisitions, financial restructuring, recapitalization, and corporate growth strategies. A certified public accountant and chartered financial analyst, Christopher Riegg earned a bachelor of business administration in accounting from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and an MBA in corporate finance from Marquette University. His career includes leadership roles with U.S. Bank and L. William Teweles & Co., where he advised clients across manufacturing, distribution, services, and technology industries. Having worked with more than 200 business owners and executives, he brings substantial experience in ownership transitions, succession planning, and transaction preparation, all of which directly relate to effective due diligence practices for sellers.
Due Diligence Best Practices for Sellers
Due diligence is one of the most decisive phases in a mergers and acquisitions process, and for sellers, it often determines whether a deal closes smoothly, retrades, or falls apart. While buyers use diligence to validate assumptions and identify risks, sellers who prepare effectively can maintain leverage, reduce uncertainty, and improve transaction outcomes. The most successful processes treat diligence not as a reactive exercise but as a structured, pre-planned discipline.
A strong starting point is financial organization. Buyers typically request three to five years of historical financial statements along with detailed supporting schedules. Sellers that maintain clean, consistent reporting systems are better positioned to withstand scrutiny. This includes reconciling internal management accounts with audited statements and clearly explaining any adjustments to EBITDA. According to PwC, buyers increasingly rely on financial diligence to assess “run-rate profitability and identify normalization adjustments,” making transparency and consistency essential to avoiding valuation disputes.
Beyond financials, sellers should anticipate the breadth of diligence requests across legal, operational, tax, and human capital areas. Modern due diligence is no longer limited to financial review; it typically includes a multi-disciplinary examination of contracts, compliance, intellectual property, customer relationships, and workforce structure.
Deloitte notes that a comprehensive diligence process often integrates commercial, operational, and legal analysis to form a full picture of value and risk, not just a financial snapshot. Preparing a well-structured data room in advance is one of the most effective ways to ensure responsiveness and reduce friction.
Another key best practice is identifying and addressing red flags early. Every business has risk areas, whether that involves customer concentration, pending litigation, margin volatility, or dependency on key personnel. Sellers who proactively surface and contextualize these issues tend to build more trust with buyers. In fact, transparency is often rewarded rather than penalized when properly explained.
Maintaining momentum throughout diligence is equally important. One of the most common causes of delay is not the quality of the business itself, but the inability to produce requested information quickly and consistently. Recent industry guidance highlights that deal timelines are frequently extended because sellers cannot efficiently provide data such as normalized EBITDA reconciliations, monthly financials, or customer-level analytics. Establishing a disciplined internal process with clear ownership over requests helps prevent bottlenecks and signals operational maturity to buyers.
A well-prepared seller can also materially reduce perceived risk by maintaining a continuously updated diligence package long before a transaction process begins, which allows issues to be resolved proactively rather than under time pressure.
Finally, seller preparation extends to narrative control. Management teams are typically interviewed during diligence, and their ability to articulate the company’s performance drivers, growth opportunities, and competitive positioning can materially influence buyer confidence. Well-prepared sellers ensure messaging is consistent across financials, presentations, and Q&A sessions, reducing ambiguity and reinforcing valuation.
Effective due diligence is about preparation and discipline. Sellers who invest in clean financials, structured data rooms, early risk identification, and responsive execution reduce uncertainty for buyers and improve the likelihood of a successful closing. In competitive M&A environments, that preparation often becomes a differentiator as important as the business itself.
About Christopher Riegg
Christopher Riegg is a partner with Promontory Point Capital and advises business owners and executive teams on mergers and acquisitions, refinancing, restructuring, and strategic growth initiatives. He holds both CPA and CFA credentials and earned degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Marquette University. During a career spanning more than three decades, he has worked with more than 200 clients across industries including manufacturing, services, distribution, and technology.