CapEQ expands the expert team advising founders on exit

CapEQ has appointed Jim Whitaker as Associate Director, strengthening the senior team that advises founders through the sale of their businesses.

Jim brings 10 years of experience in M&A, advising founders and shareholders across software, fintech, healthcare, medical communications, and consultancy.

At CapEQ, Jim will lead and support on the firm's UK and European transactions, giving founders and management teams strategic advice on selling, acquiring, and raising capital.

His arrival reinforces the way CapEQ works. Every engagement is led by experienced people who have guided many founders through what is often the biggest decision of their working lives, with no handoff to a junior team once the firm is appointed. Jim adds to that depth, and founders will feel it from the first conversation.

He also aligns closely with CapEQ's values as a certified B Corporation (B Corp) — a business independently assessed and verified against high social, environmental, and governance standards. CapEQ is Europe's first certified B Corp M&A boutique, certified in 2021.

CapEQ co-founder and Partner Mark Sapsford commented: "We've known Jim for 10 years, and his judgement and his instinct for the person behind the deal are exactly what we look for. He shares what this firm stands for, and he'll be a real asset to the founders we advise."

Jim added: "I've been watching CapEQ grow since they started out, and admired a firm that approaches M&A the way I've always believed it should be done, and whose B Corp values I share. That alignment is a big part of why I'm here."

Jim can be reached through his LinkedIn profile: Jim Whitaker | LinkedIn

Selected transaction experience

Jim's arrival adds senior deal experience across the wider team, so founders benefit from depth beyond the founding partners — with no handoff to a junior. Before joining CapEQ, in his previous role, Jim advised shareholders on sales including:

• Catalyst Computer Systems — a UK developer of dealer-management software with strong recurring revenues, sold to the Perseus operating group of Constellation Software, a Toronto-listed software acquirer. Jim led the process and took over negotiations mid-pandemic.
• Osprey Consulting Services — a specialist consultancy in safety-critical airspace management for the defence and civil aerospace markets, sold to the AIM-listed TP Group following a competitive process that drew international interest.
• MSS Group — a Cardiff-based facilities and environmental-services provider with a workforce of 600, sold to the RSK group, with cultural fit and continuity for the team central to the outcome.

About CapEQ

CapEQ is a UK M&A advisory boutique that helps founder-led independent businesses sell on the best possible terms. It works almost entirely on the sell-side, advising the founder who is selling, and concentrates on deals with an enterprise value — the total value of the business to a buyer — between £10m and £50m.

Every engagement is partner-led, and the partner team has completed more than 100 transactions. CapEQ is Europe's first certified B Corp M&A boutique, certified in 2021, and is structured to put the founder's outcome ahead of its own fee.