Why this exists
Qapital advises companies and also buys companies of its own. Those two
activities can conflict. Rather than leave that to trust, or refuse the
work and call that integrity, we tell you which side we are on before
you have paid us anything and hold to it in writing.
1. Where each side of the firm operates
We advise companies of roughly €10–100 million in revenue.
We buy companies of €2–25 million in revenue and
€0.5–5 million EBITDA, the criteria published on this site.
Between €10 million and €25 million a company sits inside both windows
at once. We do not pretend otherwise. Section 2 is what applies there.
2. When we might be the buyer
We buy and build companies as well as advise on them, which means a
company we are helping is occasionally one we would want to own. We do
not manage that by pretending it away, and we do not manage it by
refusing the work.
Before any engagement where a sale is on the table, we tell you in
writing which side we are on and what we would want if that changed. If
we would consider buying your company, you know it before you have paid
us anything, and you decide whether that is a conflict or a convenience.
Some owners want an adviser who will never bid. Others want the one
buyer in the room who has already read the numbers. Both are reasonable,
and the choice is yours rather than ours.
If you engage us as your adviser, we act for you and we do not bid.
That holds for the life of the engagement and for twelve months after it ends,
unless you release us in writing.
Your figures are yours. What you give us for one purpose is not used for
another, and nothing you submit through a Qapital platform is routed
into our acquisition pipeline.
3. If we do end up on the other side
If, after the standstill above has run or you have released us from it,
a transaction is discussed, the following applies without exception:
- The advisory mandate ends in writing before any discussion of a transaction begins.
- Any transaction that follows is priced on an independent valuation, not ours.
- The owner is free to appoint their own adviser at our cost for that valuation.
4. Information from engagements
Information obtained during an advisory engagement is used for that
engagement only. It is not used to source, price, or approach an
acquisition, and it is not shared with anyone outside the engagement
team.
Confidentiality obligations survive the end of the engagement
indefinitely.
5. Platform data
Companies and owners who use Qapital.ai
submit their own figures and documents. That data is theirs. It is not
routed into our acquisition pipeline, and we do not approach a platform
user about a transaction on the basis of what they submitted.
Where we do approach a company we have identified through public
sources, we say so plainly at the first contact.
6. Disclosure
Where any question of interest arises that this policy does not cover,
we disclose it in writing at the point it arises, before the work
continues.
7. Questions
If anything here is unclear, or you want the position confirmed in
writing for a specific engagement, contact us at
info@qapitalgroup.com.