Most CIMs that fail in diligence do not fail because of the financials.
They fail because the financial story depends on conditions that cannot be independently verified — or that disappear when the founder steps back.
The adjustments hold up. The EBITDA bridge is clean. But the buyer's lender asks a different set of questions: Who makes pricing decisions without the owner? Who manages key accounts? Who resolves operational exceptions? Is there a documented process, or is the process the founder?
When the answers to those questions are "the owner handles it" — the file has structural fragility. Diligence finds it. Re-trades follow.
Financial normalization and structural governance are different disciplines. A CIM needs both.