I am preparing for a financial services consulting interview for EY, which tends to have commercial due diligence cases. What are common examples of CDD cases?
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Commercial due diligence cases are essentially strategy cases with an investor's perspective. Instead of asking "What should the company do?", you're asking "Should the investor buy this company?"
The most common CDD topics include:
- Market attractiveness (size, growth, trends)
- Competitive positioning
- Customer base and concentration
- Revenue growth opportunities
- Sustainability of margins and profitability
- Key risks (competition, regulation, disruption)
- Value creation opportunities after the acquisition
For a Financial Services team, I'd also expect cases involving banks, insurers, asset managers or fintechs, where you'll need to think about market dynamics, customer segments, regulation and competitive positioning.
One tip: don't overcomplicate the framework. A good CDD answer usually follows a simple flow:
- Is the market attractive?
- Is the target well positioned?
- Can it continue to grow and create value?
- What synergies this deal generates?
- What are the key risks?
- Based on that, would you recommend the acquisition?
That's the level of thinking interviewers are typically looking for.
