Domenic Rinaldi, CBI

Domenic Rinaldi, CBI – Managing Partner

Domenic Rinaldi is the Managing Partner of Sun Acquisitions, a lower-middle-market mergers and acquisitions advisory firm headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. He acquired the firm in 2005 and has built it into one of the leading M&A advisory practices in the Midwest, with over 500 completed transactions across a broad cross-section of industries. Domenic has been personally involved in more than 400 of those transactions, with deal sizes ranging from $2 million to $75 million in enterprise value.

Career Background

Before acquiring Sun Acquisitions, Domenic spent 13 years at Sprint Corporation in sales and operations leadership roles. He served as Vice President of Sprint’s Hospitality Division, where he led a national organization to $250 million in annual revenue. His tenure at Sprint gave him deep experience in managing large-scale sales operations, national account relationships, and P&L responsibility across a major business unit.

Following Sprint, Domenic served as Chief Operating Officer of a venture-backed e-commerce travel company, where he helped grow a Silicon Valley startup into an international solutions provider. In that role, he gained direct experience in raising venture capital, building a technology company from early stage to profitability, and navigating the dynamics of startup growth. He also operated a New York City–based technology company, an experience that gave him firsthand knowledge of the challenges facing small business owners.

Building Sun Acquisitions

Domenic acquired Sun Acquisitions in 2005 and has spent over two decades building the firm into a full-service lower-middle-market M&A advisory practice. Under his leadership, the firm has completed more than 500 transactions across manufacturing, distribution, healthcare, IT, business services, HVAC, and numerous other industries. The firm handles sell-side advisory, buy-side search, business valuation, and due diligence coordination for clients nationwide, with additional cross-border transaction capability.

Domenic is also the founder of K2Adviser, a platform focused on helping entrepreneurs prepare for business acquisitions by addressing the strategic and financial blind spots that commonly derail first-time buyers.

Selected Transaction

In one of his notable engagements, Domenic led the sale of a multi-location pharmaceutical company to a private equity group that was executing a roll-up strategy while simultaneously preparing to go public. The business had an EBITDA in excess of $2 million and sold at a multiple above 5x. The owners had previously spent nine months attempting to sell the business on their own with a single buyer, only to have the transaction collapse. After engaging Sun Acquisitions, Domenic’s team generated six qualified offers and closed the deal within seven months of going to market.

Media & Thought Leadership

Domenic is widely quoted in national and business media, having appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Reuters, Los Angeles Times, and Crain’s Chicago Business, among other outlets. He is a former contributing columnist for Entrepreneur.com and has written for industry publications including Smart Business and HVACR Business.

He hosts the M&A Unplugged podcast, which has produced over 100 episodes covering the full spectrum of mergers and acquisitions topics—from business valuation and due diligence to exit planning and deal structure. He has also been a guest on numerous other business podcasts, including Rising Tide Startups, Extra Innings, Scaling Up Services, and Play Your Position, and is a faculty member at Financial Poise, a financial education platform for business owners and professionals.

Professional Credentials

Domenic holds the Certified Business Intermediary (CBI) designation from the International Business Brokers Association (IBBA), the premier professional credential in the business brokerage and lower-middle-market M&A advisory industry. Sun Acquisitions was recognized by Axial as a Top 20 firm in closing rate among lower-middle-market advisory firms nationwide.

Board & Community Service

Domenic has served on the Board of Directors of Somercor Financial in Chicago (2016–2018), Family Tree Inc. in Denver (1993–1997), and the Mid-America Assistance Coalition in Kansas City (1991–1993). In 1991, he founded Back-to-School Clothes for Kids, a Kansas City program providing school clothing to children from under-resourced families.

Domenic is based in the Chicago area. Outside of work, he is an avid golfer and fly fisherman and enjoys adventure travel with his wife.