How to Conduct Expert Calls for M&A Due Diligence: A Practical Guide

Most expert call programmes produce interesting conversations. The best ones produce changed investment theses. The difference is almost entirely in how you prepare.

What are expert calls in M&A due diligence?

Expert calls in M&A due diligence are structured conversations with industry practitioners used to validate investment thesis assumptions, understand competitive dynamics, assess management quality, and identify risks that do not appear in financial data or management presentations. They are the primary tool for generating qualitative conviction in deal-stage research.

What expert calls reveal vs what they cannot replace

What expert calls reveal: Management team reputation, competitive moat reality, customer perception and loyalty, informal regulatory dynamics, market trajectory from practitioners.

What they cannot replace: Financial model verification, legal and regulatory due diligence, technical product assessment, audited financial statements, formal valuation methodology.

Why expert calls are essential in M&A due diligence

Investment committees make decisions based on quantitative analysis and qualitative conviction. The quantitative side is well understood and well resourced at most firms. The qualitative side is where expert calls provide an irreplaceable contribution.

How does this company's management team compare to others in the sector? What do former customers think of the product? What competitive threats does the company face that are not yet visible in the financials? These questions cannot be answered by desk research or management presentations. They require candid perspectives from practitioners with direct relevant experience.

A real example: the call that changed a valuation

A buyout team was evaluating a healthcare services business with strong EBITDA margins and a dominant market position in its core geography. The management presentation described the regulatory environment as stable and increasingly favourable. An expert call with a former senior regulator in the same jurisdiction revealed that a policy review was underway that was widely expected within the industry to tighten reimbursement rates for the target's primary service line. The investment team revised their terminal value assumptions, renegotiated the purchase price, and built a regulatory risk scenario into their base case. The deal completed at a fifteen percent lower valuation than originally tabled.

How to build the right expert brief

Include the sector and sub-sector, the specific geography, the seniority and functional area of expert you need, the time period of their relevant experience, and the specific questions or themes you want to address. A strong brief takes fifteen to thirty minutes to write and pays back many times over in the relevance of experts you receive.

How to structure the expert call for maximum intelligence

Open with context. Explain that you are conducting due diligence on a business in this sector and want to understand the competitive dynamics, customer perspective, or operational reality. This gives the expert the frame they need to provide relevant answers.

Test your investment thesis directly. If the thesis depends on the company having a superior product, ask how the expert would characterise product quality relative to competitors. Make the expert challenge your assumptions.

Probe for disconfirming evidence. Ask what could go wrong. Ask what the bears would say. The most valuable moment in any expert call is when a practitioner tells you something that contradicts your thesis.

Close by asking for referrals. Expert calls are often the best source of introductions to other experts, and those referrals are usually more targeted than initial network introductions.

How many expert calls do you need?

Conviction begins to form after three to five calls on the same topic. New information yield diminishes significantly after eight to ten. If the first three calls are telling a consistent story, you may need fewer. If they are contradicting each other, you need more, and the contradictions themselves are important signals about the uncertainty range in your thesis.

Common mistakes in M&A expert call programmes

Submitting vague briefs that produce generalist experts rather than directly relevant practitioners. Going into calls with open-ended curiosity rather than a hypothesis to test. Over-indexing on one or two opinions before running enough calls to understand the range of views. Not recording calls, which means the full intelligence is lost immediately. Failing to synthesise across the call programme to identify where expert views converge and where they diverge.

Frequently asked questions

How many expert calls should a typical M&A due diligence programme include? For a standard deal, five to ten calls across different practitioner types covers most questions adequately. Complex cross-geography deals may require fifteen to twenty calls to build sufficient conviction.

What types of experts are most valuable for M&A due diligence? Former executives of the target company or direct competitors. Former customers, particularly large or long-standing ones. Former suppliers with insight into the target's operational efficiency. Former regulators or legal practitioners with jurisdiction-specific expertise.

How are expert calls kept compliant during M&A processes? Through documented conflict-of-interest screening before every call, MNPI protocols that prohibit discussion of material non-public information, and call documentation available for audit. Nextyn's compliance infrastructure is designed to meet the standards required by institutional investors and their legal counsel.

Can expert calls be used after the deal closes? Absolutely. Many of the same practitioners who informed the deal thesis become valuable ongoing monitors of competitive dynamics, regulatory developments, and market trajectory during the hold period.

Working with Nextyn on M&A due diligence

Nextyn has supported investment teams across 70+ countries with expert call programmes for M&A due diligence. Our particular strength is in markets where primary research is most essential, particularly APAC, South Asia, and MEA, where information asymmetry is highest and the value of direct practitioner access is greatest. We offer flexible engagement models for deal-stage work, including rapid-turnaround expert identification for time-sensitive mandates. If you have an active deal where expert intelligence would strengthen your conviction, we welcome the conversation.