The Value Bridge Read
Five quantified reasons the earnings number is wrong
Reported EBITDA is a starting position, not a fact. On most lower mid-market transactions both sides negotiate against a number neither has independently reconstructed.
Five named reasons|10–20 working days|Fee credited against mandate|One side only
5
Reasons tested
10–20
Working days
1
Side of the table
100%
Fee credited
The method
What the Read tests
Every Read interrogates the same five things, and every finding carries a euro figure and an evidence label. Nothing is asserted without saying how firmly we hold it.
1
Owner economics
Compensation above or below a replacement market rate, related-party terms, personal cost carried in the P&L, family employment an acquirer will not inherit.
2
Recurring versus one-off
Items misclassified in both directions — exceptional costs that quietly became permanent, and one-off gains presented as run-rate. Sometimes the honest answer is that earnings are lower than stated.
3
Price and mix leakage
Realised versus list pricing, discount authority, contract escalators never applied, and the unprofitable tail.
4
Working capital and cash conversion
The peg, true-up exposure, trapped cash, and where the collection cycle sits against the sector.
5
AI-addressable cost and capacity
Named processes where automation removes cost or releases capacity — sized with an implementation cost, an owner and a date, not as a theme.
Discipline
Every finding is labelled
Verified
Evidenced
Supported by a document or a source we can point you to.
Inferred
Reasoned
A defensible estimate from observable signals. Labelled as such, never presented as fact.
Could not determine
Your first-call agenda
Handed over as the diligence questions to ask. Owners find it disarming; acquirers find it useful.
Which edition
Two editions, one method
Owner Edition
Before you go to market
Know your own number, and which way each line moves, before a buyer reconstructs it for you.
Acquirer Edition
Before you bid
Rebuild the earnings independently, pre-LOI, before spending on formal diligence.
One side only
Our standing rule
We run the Read for one side of a transaction, and we tell you which side we are on. We will not run both editions on the same asset.
Fixed fee, scoped on a short call. The fee is credited in full against our transaction fee if you appoint us within 12 months. One Read is credited per completed transaction.
Is a Read worth running on your situation?
Thirty minutes is enough to establish scope, which side we would act for, and whether the answer is likely to change your position.
Book a 30-minute scoping call →Value Bridge Partners
