Text in square brackets is a placeholder to complete before these terms are published.
Version [terms version], effective from [effective date].
These terms apply when you use Loupe, including the website at [website address], the feed, the free tools and guides, your account and any dossier you request. Loupe is operated by [legal entity name], a company registered in [country of registration] under number [registration number], with its registered office at [registered address]. In these terms, "Loupe", "we" and "us" mean [legal entity name], and "you" means the person using Loupe and, where you act for an organisation, that organisation.
Please read these terms together with our privacy policy, cookie policy and disclaimer.
About these terms
By creating an account, requesting a dossier or accepting a quote, you agree to these terms. If you use Loupe without an account, these terms apply to that use too.
If you use Loupe for an organisation, such as a search fund, a private equity firm or a family office, you confirm that you have authority to accept these terms on its behalf.
Loupe is built for buyers acting in the course of business. If you use it as a consumer, you keep the rights that consumer law in your country gives you, and nothing in these terms takes those rights away.
Who can use Loupe
You must be at least 18 years old and able to enter into a binding contract. Loupe is built for people and organisations researching the purchase of a business. It is not intended for children.
You must not use Loupe if the law that applies to you prohibits it, or if you are the subject of sanctions that would make it unlawful for us to provide our services to you.
Your account
A free account lets you use the full feed, save valuations and searches, track checklist progress, download PDF reports and receive alerts.
When you create an account:
- give accurate information and keep it up to date, including your billing details if you request a dossier
- keep your password and sign-in methods secure, and do not share your account with anyone else
- tell us promptly at [contact email] if you think someone else has used your account
You must verify your email address before you can request a dossier. Two-factor authentication is optional for clients, and we recommend it. You are responsible for activity in your account unless it happens because we failed to keep Loupe reasonably secure.
Free tools, guides and the feed
The valuation tool, the red flag screen, guides, the red flag library, the glossary, checklists and country primers are free. They give general information to help you ask better questions about a business. They do not assess your circumstances and they are not advice.
The feed brings together businesses listed for sale by marketplaces, brokers and other sources. Listed figures are shown as the seller or broker presented them. We have not checked them unless a dossier says so. See "Listings and other information from third parties" below.
We may change, limit or withdraw any free tool or content at any time.
Valuation results are indicative
The valuation tool calculates an indicative range from the figures and answers you enter, using the method and the benchmark set version shown with the result. Our methodology page explains how it works and where its benchmarks come from.
A valuation result:
- is not a formal valuation, an appraisal or an opinion of what any buyer should pay
- depends entirely on the figures it uses, whether you enter them or they are filled in from a listing, and we do not check those figures
- uses benchmarks drawn largely from published market data, much of it from the United States and online marketplaces, which may not reflect your business, sector or country
Where a result shows comparable listings, those figures are asking prices, not sale prices. Final sale prices usually land below asking prices. The affordability check is an illustration based on the assumptions you enter. It is not an offer of finance, a lending decision or a view on whether you can afford a purchase.
Requesting a dossier
A dossier is an analyst-verified report on one listed business. You can request one from a listing page. In the request you choose a scope (Snapshot, Full dossier or Custom), and you may add specific questions, a date you need it by and how you intend to use it. Our page on what's in a dossier describes each scope.
When you submit a request, and again when you accept a quote, you accept the version of these terms that is current at that time. A request is not a contract. It asks us to prepare a quote. We may decline a request, for example if we cannot research the business properly or doing so would be unlawful.
Each request has a reference and a message thread. Use the thread to agree the scope with us before and after we quote.
Quotes
Every dossier is priced on request. A quote sets out:
- the price and currency
- the tax treatment
- a summary of the scope
- the expected turnaround in business days
- the date the quote expires
- any note we add about the work
You can accept a quote with "Accept quote" or decline it, with a reason if you wish. When you accept, we record the time, your IP address, your browser details and the version of these terms you accepted. A quote you do not answer expires on its expiry date, and we will send you a reminder before it does.
If you want to change the scope after we quote, tell us in the message thread and we will send a new quote.
Completing the purchase and invoices
After you accept a quote, we complete the purchase. The contract for your dossier is formed when we complete the purchase, and at that moment we issue an invoice.
Occasionally we agree a dossier with a client outside Loupe, for example by email. In that case we may complete the purchase without an on-screen acceptance. We record a note of what was agreed, and these terms apply to that dossier in the same way.
Each invoice has a unique sequential number and shows our details, the billing details in your account when the invoice is issued, the invoice date, the due date, the price, any tax, the total and how to pay. We email it to your billing email address, and it is available in your account.
An issued invoice cannot be edited. If an invoice needs correcting, we issue a credit note and, where needed, a new invoice. Check that your billing details, such as your legal entity name, tax number and purchase order reference, are correct before you accept a quote.
Payment
Pay each invoice in full by the due date shown on it. Bank transfer is always available, using the details on the invoice. Where we offer card payment, the invoice includes a payment link handled by our payment provider, and the provider's own terms apply to that payment.
You are responsible for any charges your bank or card issuer applies. We record part payments against the invoice, which stays open until it is paid in full. When we receive a payment, we send you a confirmation.
If an invoice becomes overdue, we will send reminders. We may pause work on the dossier or hold back its delivery until the invoice is paid, and [we may charge interest on overdue amounts at [interest rate] where the law allows].
Delivery of your dossier
Work starts when we complete the purchase or, if we tell you so in the quote or the message thread, when we receive payment. The turnaround in the quote is an estimate in business days from that start. It depends on the information available, and we will tell you through the message thread if we expect a delay.
We deliver the dossier in your account as a web view and a PDF. We may release a finished dossier only once its invoice is paid in full. Every page of the PDF carries a watermark with your name, email address and the time of download. We log each view and download.
What a dossier covers, and what it does not
A dossier reports what we could find and check about one business at the dates shown. Each finding records its source, the date it was checked and a confidence level: Verified, As listed or Estimated. Our analysts may use AI tools to help prepare a first draft, and an analyst reviews and approves every dossier before we deliver it.
A dossier relies on the listing, public records, other sources available to us and any documents you or the seller provide. Some questions cannot be answered from those sources. Where that happens, the dossier says so.
A dossier is not:
- an audit, a quality of earnings report or a formal valuation
- legal, tax or financial due diligence carried out by a regulated professional
- a guarantee that the business, its figures or anything the seller says is accurate or complete
Businesses and records change. We are not responsible for updating a dossier after its delivery date unless we agree to do so in writing.
Cancellations
You can withdraw a request at any time before we complete the purchase, at no cost. After completion, tell us in the message thread if you want to cancel. If we have not started work, we will cancel the request, issue a credit note and refund anything you have paid. If work has started, [cancellation terms for work in progress].
We may cancel a request before delivery, for example if we cannot carry out the work or the business is no longer for sale. We will tell you why. If we have issued an invoice, we will issue a credit note and refund [the amount paid for work not delivered].
If you are a consumer, you may have a legal right to cancel within a set period after the contract is formed. If you ask us to start work during that period, you may have to pay for the work done before you cancel, and you may lose the right to cancel once the dossier has been delivered.
How you may use a dossier
When we deliver a dossier, we grant you a non-exclusive, non-transferable licence to use it for your own assessment of whether, and on what terms, to buy the business it describes. If you act for an organisation, people within that organisation who are involved in assessing the purchase may use it too, in confidence.
Dossiers may not be redistributed. If anyone else, such as an investor, a lender or a professional adviser, will need to see a dossier, ask us in the request's message thread, ideally before you accept the quote. You may share it only with the people we agree to in writing, and only for that purchase. You are responsible for making sure they keep it confidential and follow these terms.
You may discuss the findings with the seller or their broker, but you must not give them a copy. You must not:
- publish a dossier or any substantial part of it, or post it in a shared data room, forum or group
- sell, license, lend or give a dossier to anyone we have not agreed to, including other prospective buyers, brokers or marketplaces
- remove, hide or alter the watermark
- use a dossier to build or improve a product or database that competes with Loupe
A dossier may contain personal data about people connected to the business, such as directors or owners. Use that information only to assess the purchase, keep it secure and handle it in line with data protection law.
No investment, legal, tax or financial advice
Everything on Loupe, including dossiers, valuation results, the red flag screen, guides, checklists and country primers, is general information for your own use. It is not investment, legal, tax or financial advice, and it is not a recommendation to buy, not to buy or to pay a particular price for any business.
We do not know your full circumstances. Before you make an offer, sign an agreement or commit money, take advice from qualified professionals, such as an accountant, a lawyer and, where relevant, a regulated financial adviser.
Loupe is not a business broker. We do not act for buyers or sellers in a transaction, negotiate for anyone or take success fees.
Acceptable use
When you use Loupe, you must not:
- copy, scrape, download in bulk or systematically extract listings, valuations, guides or other content, whether by hand or with automated tools
- get round rate limits, access controls, paywalls or the account requirements for any feature
- share your account, or resell or give access to Loupe to anyone else
- probe, test or interfere with the security of Loupe without our written permission (please report security concerns to [security contact email])
- upload anything that contains malware or that you do not have the right to share
- use Loupe to break the law, including data protection, competition, sanctions and anti-money laundering law
- use information from Loupe to harass a seller, a broker or anyone connected to a business, or to contact a business in breach of an agreement you have signed
- present a valuation result, a red flag screen result or a dossier as a formal valuation or as professional advice
- give false information in your account, a request or a message
We may remove content, limit access or suspend an account if we reasonably believe these rules have been broken.
Information you give us
You keep ownership of the information you give us, such as your acquisition criteria, questions, messages and documents. You allow us to use it to provide Loupe to you, including to prepare your dossier. We may also use valuation inputs and usage information in anonymised, aggregated form to improve our tools and benchmarks. Our privacy policy explains how we handle personal data.
Only share documents you are allowed to share. If a seller gave you documents under a confidentiality agreement, check that it lets you pass them to us before you do.
Intellectual property
We and our licensors own Loupe and everything we create for it, including the website and software, the feed as a compilation, the teasers we write for listings, the valuation tool and our benchmark sets, guides, the red flag library, checklists, the glossary, country primers, the sample dossier, dossiers, and the Loupe name and logo.
Apart from the rights these terms give you, nothing transfers to you. You may link to our public pages and quote short extracts from our guides with credit to Loupe.
If you send us feedback or suggestions, we may use them without any obligation to you.
Listings and other information from third parties
Listings in the feed come from marketplaces, brokers and other sources. They may be out of date, withdrawn, duplicated or wrong. Listed figures and asking prices are the seller's or broker's own. An asking price is not a sale price.
We are not the seller or the seller's agent, and we are not a party to any sale. Any contact you have with a seller or broker, including any non-disclosure agreement they ask you to sign, is between you and them.
Links to other websites are provided for convenience. Those websites have their own terms, and we are not responsible for them.
Availability and changes to Loupe
We work to keep Loupe available and secure, but we cannot promise that it will always be available or free of errors. We may need to suspend access for maintenance or for reasons outside our control.
We may change, add or remove features, and we update the valuation method and benchmark sets from time to time. Each saved valuation keeps the method and benchmark set versions it was calculated with, so you can see how it was reached.
Suspending or closing an account
You can ask us to delete your account at any time from the privacy section of your account. Deleting your account does not cancel unpaid invoices or dossiers in progress. Download any delivered dossiers you want to keep before you close your account, because you will lose access to them. We keep invoices and related records for the period the law requires, as our privacy policy explains.
We may suspend or close your account if you seriously or repeatedly break these terms, if an invoice remains unpaid after reminders, or if the law requires us to. We will tell you why unless the law or a security concern prevents us.
The sections on how you may use a dossier, intellectual property, limits on our liability and governing law continue to apply after an account closes.
Limits on our liability
Nothing in these terms limits or excludes any liability that cannot lawfully be limited or excluded, such as liability for fraud or for death or personal injury caused by negligence.
Loupe helps you research a business. Decisions about whether to buy, and on what terms, are yours. Subject to the paragraph above, we are not liable for:
- loss of profit, revenue, business, goodwill, opportunity or anticipated savings
- indirect or consequential loss
- loss caused by inaccurate or incomplete information from sellers, brokers, listing sources or public records, where we reported that information with its source and confidence level
- loss caused by events outside our reasonable control
Our total liability to you for all claims connected with a dossier is limited to [liability cap for dossiers, for example the amount paid for that dossier]. Our total liability to you for all claims connected with the free tools, guides, feed and your account is limited to [liability cap for free services].
If you are a consumer, the limits above apply only as far as consumer law allows. We remain liable for loss that both of us could reasonably have expected, when the contract was formed, to follow from a breach of these terms by us or from a lack of reasonable care and skill in our work. Because Loupe is designed for assessing a business purchase, we do not accept liability to consumers for business losses such as lost profit or a missed opportunity.
If you share or use a dossier in breach of these terms, you are responsible for the loss we suffer as a result, to the extent the law allows.
Governing law and disputes
These terms, and any dispute arising from them or from your use of Loupe, are governed by the law of [governing law]. The courts of [jurisdiction] will have [exclusive] jurisdiction.
If you are a consumer, you may also be able to bring proceedings in the courts of the country where you live, and any mandatory consumer protections of that country still apply.
If you have a complaint, please contact us first at [contact email] so we can try to resolve it.
Changes to these terms and terms versions
Each version of these terms has a version number and an effective date, shown at the top of this page. We keep a record of every version.
When you request a dossier and when you accept a quote, we record which version you accepted. The version you accepted with the quote applies to that request through to delivery. If we complete a purchase agreed outside Loupe, the version current at completion applies.
We may update these terms, for example to reflect changes to Loupe or to the law. For your continuing use of your account, the feed and the tools, a new version applies from its effective date. If a change is significant, we will tell you by email or in your account [notice period] before it takes effect. If you do not agree to a new version, you can stop using Loupe and ask us to delete your account.
You can ask us for a copy of an earlier version at any time.
General
These terms, together with any quote you accept and the documents they refer to, are the whole agreement between you and us about Loupe. If a quote says something different from these terms, the quote applies to that request.
We may transfer our rights and obligations under these terms to another organisation, for example if our business is sold, and we will tell you if we do. You may not transfer yours without our written consent.
If a court finds part of these terms unenforceable, the rest continues to apply. If we do not enforce a right straight away, we can still enforce it later. No one other than you and us has any right to enforce these terms.
We send notices to the email address in your account. You can send notices to us at [contact email] or by post to [registered address].
Contact
If you have a question about these terms, use our contact form or email [contact email].