Terms & Conditions

General Terms and Conditions for services accessed via www.leverest.net and platform.leverest.net

Last updated: July 30, 2024

I. Scope of application

  1. Leverest GmbH, Bockheimer Landstraße 31, 60325 Frankfurt am Main (“Leverest”), operates  www.leverest.net  and platform.leverest.net (the “Platform”), on which investors,
    their respective representatives, advisers or companies (“Investors”) or debt advisors engaged by Investors
    (“Debt Advisors”) can publish information on financing opportunities on the Platform (a “Deal”) provided by
    themselves and potential lenders, banks, debt funds or other debt capital providers (“Lenders”; Investors, Debt
    Advisors and Lenders together “Users”) can review the information and can contact each other. The contact can be
    used by the Users to conclude financing or investments.
  2. A Deal is successful, when it was published on the Platform by a User in the role of an Investor
    or Debt Advisor and an Investor or an affiliated company within the meaning of 15 Stock Corporation Act (AktG),
    has concluded a financing agreement with a Lender within 24 months after the Deal was published and the closing
    of the underlying Deal took place (e.g. transfer of the shares of the target in question, refinancing of a
    target, or any other Deal related to a financing or investment that has been concluded as a result of the
    posting on the Platform) (“Successful Deal”).
  3. These General Terms and Conditions (“General Terms and Conditions”) govern all contractual
    relationships between Leverest and a User in connection with the use of the Platform (“Platform Service”) –
    unless an individual contract has been concluded between a User and Leverest. In this case then the regulations
    from the individual contract will prevail.
  4. The use of the Platform Service and further additional service of Leverest requires the User’s
    consent to these General Terms and Conditions, which must be expressly declared during the registration process
    and before publishing a Deal on the Platform.
  5. The User’s general terms and conditions of business shall not become part of the contract even if
    Leverest does not expressly object to their inclusion.
  6. Leverest’s offer is not directed at consumers. Consumers are those persons who conclude a legal
    transaction for purposes that cannot be predominantly attributed to their commercial or self-employed
    professional activity.

II. Conclusion of a Service Agreement with Leverest / Access to Platform

  1. In the name of a User, an authorized representative of a User makes Leverest an offer
    (Angebot) to conclude a contract on the basis of this General Terms and Conditions by completing all
    mandatory fields of the registration form during the registration process on the Platform and by accepting the
    General Terms and Conditions and clicking on the button “Register”. Before sending the form, the User has
    the opportunity to correct any input errors directly in the registration form. The offer can also be made in
    writing, orally or by telephone. Leverest will immediately confirm receipt of the form. This confirmation does
    not constitute acceptance of the offer (Annahme). Only after the User has been verified on the basis of
    certain criteria, – e.g. verifying if User is an Investor, Lender, or Debt Advisor, further telephone inquiry,
    trade register checks – , the service contract come into effect through a separate express declaration of
    acceptance by Leverest or through the actual activation of the account or by granting access to the Platform.
  2. There is no claim to registration / access to the Platform of the User against Leverest.

III. Completion of the User’s Account

After Leverest has granted access to the Platform and after Leverest has classified the User as Lender, Debt Advisor or
Investor, Users can upload additional information in their profile on the Platform such as general data (e.g. contact
name, business address, etc.), as well as data on the professional activity of the User (together “User Profile”) or
modify the User Profile.

IV. Description of services

  1. Leverest offers its registered Users the possibility to publish a Deal on the Leverest Platform
    under the conditions of these General Terms and Conditions and after clearance by Leverest, so that other
    Lenders can see a Deal and contact the User regarding this Deal. Furthermore, on the basis of the transaction
    interest defined by the User in its Profile, certain Lenders who might be particularly interested in the Deal
    based on the User Profile are suggested to the User by Leverest / the Platform. The User can then contact these
    Lenders directly and individually about the Deal through the Platform.
  2. The publishing of a Deal is usually performed as follows:
    1. Initially, only key data that could be relevant for a potential Deal, but not data that
      could be used to clearly identify a User or the parties of the Deal will be published or is made visible
      to Lenders on the Platform.
    2. Upon request of an interested Lender or by invitation of the User who has published the
      Deal, further information on the Deal will be made available to Lenders (with the consent of the User
      who posted the Deal or Leverest).
    3. Only after signing an NDA between the Users and possibly third parties who are involved
      in the Deal, the complete data will be disclosed to the User.
  3. Leverest provides primarily the Platform to manage the process of a Deal (Platform Service).
    Leverest does not become a party to any possible later Transaction, nor does Leverest assume any further
    advisory or other role in possible contract negotiations between Users unless such advice is requested by a User
    and for such service Leverest and the User have concluded a separate agreement. With regard to the submission,
    transmission or receipt of declarations of intent between the Users, Leverest does not act as a representative
    or messenger. In case a User wishes to obtain additional services by Leverest a separate contract between the
    User and Leverest will be concluded.
  1.  

V. Terms of payment

  1. In the event of a Successful Deal / Transaction (i.e. documents have been signed) between an
    Investor, Debt Advisor or Lender as well as an affiliated company of a User within the meaning of Section 15 of
    the AktG or a client of a User for whom the User has published a Deal on the Platform, the User in the role as
    an Investor or as an Debt Advisor who is publishing a Deal shall pay Leverest the remuneration (“Platform
    Fees
    ”) agreed upon in the compensation table, which is made available to the User every time before
    posting a Deal (the “Compensation Table”).
  2. The Platform Fee consists of the following:
    1. For the access to the Platform and to be able to publish the details for a Deal on the
      Platform, an Investor or Debt Advisor pays a fee as stated in the Compensation Table after validation of
      the Deal by Leverest (“Platform Deal Fee”).
    2. For the Successful Deal the Investor or Debt Advisor pays a success fee as stated in the
      Compensation Table regardless of whether the Successful Deal is concluded with the help of the
      publication of the Deal on the Platform (“Success Fee”).
  3. Success Fees are payable at the Closing Date of the Successful Deal. The “Closing Date” has the
    same meaning as stated in the underlying Deal agreements.
  4. The Platform Deal Fee is payable at the end of the month after publishing the Deal on the
    Platform.
  5. For clarification, a User owes the payment even if he is not himself a party to the Transaction –
    it is sufficient if the User has posted the Successful Deal on the Platform.
  6. Leverest reserves the right to change the Compensation Table with effect for future Deals. The
    change only applies to Deals published on the Platform after the change came into effect. For Deals that have
    already been published, even if they only lead to a Transaction at a later date, the Compensation Table always
    applies in the version at the time the Deal was published.
  7. The Platform Fees shall be due when the closing according to the underlying contract of the
    Successful Deal between the Users has taken place.
  8. If the User in the role of Investor – such as (Debt) Advisors – is not itself a party to the
    Transaction (e.g. an external (debt) advisor), Leverest will defer payment of the Platform Fees until such time
    as part of the fee has been received by the Advisor for the respective Transaction by his client. For this
    purpose, the User must prove to Leverest that the fee for the Transaction has not yet been paid.
  9. Unless otherwise agreed between Leverest and the User in text form, the remuneration is to be
    transferred to the following account within 30 days of the Closing Date: Account holder: Leverest GmbH, Bank:
    OLINDA Zweigniederlassung Deutschland, IBAN: DE54 1001 0123 8866 7478 44
  10. The parties agree that the conclusion of the Closing Date constitutes an event within the meaning
    of § 286 para. 2 no. 2 BGB (German Civil Code) and that the Investor is therefore in default of payment in the
    event of non-performance, even without a reminder, upon expiry of 30 days after the due date.

VI. Assignment

Parties acknowledge that a User in the role of an Investor might incorporate a new entity or entities in which the
Investor has at least an indirect interest and holds (indirectly) at least more than 50% of the shares (each a “New
Entity”) with regard to a Deal and the Investor may assign all rights and obligations under this General Terms &
Conditions in whole or in part to a New Entity. The Investor will inform Leverest promptly in writing (email is
sufficient) when the obligation from this General Terms & Conditions will be assigned to a New Entity. In case of
such assignment, the Investor will remain liable for the obligations under this General Terms & Conditions
(Guarantor for the Platform Fees) in case the New Entity is unable to meet any of the obligations under this General
Terms & Conditions (in the event of an assignment of rights and obligations under this Agreement, the Investor shall
automatically become a directly enforceable guarantor for the Platform Deal Fees). Leverest hereby agrees to such
assignment.

VII. Duty to report and right to information

  1. Should one or more Transactions take place between two Users or an affiliated company within the
    meaning of Section 15 of the German Stock Corporation Act (AktG) of the Users or a client of a User for whom the
    User has published a Deal on the Platform within 24 months, the Users must report the Transaction(s) to Leverest
    within 30 days after the Closing Date. The notification must be made in writing to Leverest GmbH or by email to
    info@Leverest.net.
  2. The notification shall contain at least the following information:
    1. Information about the Transaction with naming parties and time
    2. Information on the parameters relevant for the calculation of the Platform Fees (together
      the “Notification Obligation”).
  3. If a User does not comply with its obligation to notify Leverest in a timely, complete and
    truthful manner, the Platform Fees according to the Compensation Table increase as follows:
    1. Notification in full compliance with the contract is only made 30 to 59 days after the
      Closing Date: Platform Fees increase to 125% of the amount according to the Compensation Table.
    2. Notification in full compliance with the contract will only be made 60 days or more after
      the Closing Date or not at all: Platform Fees increase to 150% of the amount according to the
      Compensation Table.
  4. Any User (whether in the role of Investor or Lender) is obliged to comply with a request for
    information from Leverest about any Transactions within 14 days. In each request for information Leverest will
    name the users concerned.

VIII. Invoice from Leverest

Following the notification or information about the Transaction, the User in the Investor’s role receives an invoice
from Leverest by email. Leverest points out that the claim for remuneration is also due without or before the invoice is
issued.

IX. Confidentiality, disclosure of information

  1. Confidential Information

    The Receiving Party must keep Confidential Information (for at least 2 years after accepting this General
    Terms & Conditions) strictly confidential and take all necessary steps to maintain its confidentiality, in
    particular the Receiving Party must take all necessary step to prevent unauthorized access to Confidential
    Information must promptly inform the other Party in case it becomes aware or has reason to assume that
    unauthorized persons have obtained access to Confidential Information.

    Confidential Information” means any information of whatever nature (which is marked as confidential or
    not) relating to a User, a Deal or Transaction which is made available to the Receiving Party by or on behalf of
    the Disclosing Party (whether in oral, written, magnetic, digital or other form);

    Disclosing Party” means the Party disclosing Confidential Information to the Receiving Party under or in
    connection with this Agreement.

    Non-Confidential Information” means any information of whatever nature, which

    1. were, at the time of disclosure, known to the Receiving Party or its Representatives;
    2. became after the time of disclosure known to the public, provided that the disclosure to
      the public has not been caused by a violation of this Agreement or another confidentiality agreement
      between a Party and a third party;
    3. was obtained by the Receiving Party or its Representatives from third parties, provided
      that this information was not disseminated to the Receiving Party or its Representatives as a result of
      a violation by any person of a confidentiality agreement with a Party; or
    4. was independently developed by or on behalf of the Receiving Party without violating any
      of the obligations under this Agreement.

    Receiving Party” shall mean the Party receiving Confidential Information from the Disclosing Party under
    or in connection with this Agreement.

    Representatives” shall mean, with respect to any Party, the Parties’ shareholders, partners, Affiliates,
    agents (Erfüllungsgehilfen), professional advisors, independent auditors, as well as the statutory
    representatives, members of corporate bodies, directors, officers and employees of each of the aforementioned.

  2. Return of Confidential Information

    The Receiving Party must at written request of the Disclosing Party destroy, delete or return all
    Confidential Information and any copies and notes thereof that are in its possession, as applicable (i.e., to
    those parties from which or on behalf of which it has received such information).

    The obligations are suspended if and to the extent

    1. the relevant measure would conflict with preservation duties under applicable law or the Users’ /
      Leverest’s own reasonable compliance or retention requirements for storing;
    2. Confidential Information has to be expunged from customary automated IT backup storage systems, provided
      that such Confidential Information is not retrieved from such backup storage system; or
    3. this results from these General Terms & Conditions.
  3. The User is prohibited from passing on to third parties any Confidential Information which is available on the
    Platform after registration and verification and which has been specifically prepared by Leverest or its Users
    and is exclusively accessible to registered and verified Users or which has otherwise been made available to the
    User by Leverest.
  4. Third parties are in particular also companies directly or indirectly affiliated with the User, companies within
    the meaning of § 15 of the German Stock Corporation Act or related parties within the meaning of § 138 of the
    German Insolvency Code (Insolvenzordnung) as well as companies in which the User directly or indirectly
    (e.g. on the basis of a trust agreement) holds a share. Third parties are not employees, freelancers, service
    providers, representatives and vicarious agents of the user.

X. Leverest Intelligence

  1. “Leverest Intelligence” means any machine learning capability or functionality made available by Leverest, including without limitation any capability or functionality labeled or otherwise identified by Leverest as AI-powered. User data utilized in Leverest Intelligence includes “Input” – any prompt, data, text, or other input as well as file uploads User provides or makes available to be processed by Leverest, and “Output” – any output generated and returned to a User, as applicable, by Leverest Intelligence, based on Input.
    User ensures that the provided data does not contain any personal data.
    User guarantees to Leverest that User owns all right, title and interest in or has right to distribute the Input Data or information User provides to Leverest. User indemnifies Leverest against any claims by third parties if third parties assert claims for damages against Leverest due to the use of Leverest Intelligence.
  2. Terms that apply to User data. User retains all right, title, and interest (including all intellectual property rights if applicable) in and to any Input or Output. To the extent User has any right, title, or interest in Input or Output, User grants Leverest a worldwide, perpetual license to access, use, process, copy, export, and display (also to other Users on the Leverest Platform), any Input and Output in connection with quality assurance and improving Leverest Intelligence as well as for the service on the Leverest Platform. Leverest will protect the data like a diligent businessman and in particular sensitive data (such as deal specific data) in the same way as Leverest protects its own sensitive data.
  3. Disclaimers. User acknowledges that Output is generated by machine learning capabilities and functionality, and Leverest makes no warranty or guarantee as to the accuracy, completeness or reliability of the Output as the Output can not be influenced by Leverest. Due to the nature of Leverest Intelligence, (a) no Service Level Agreement does apply to Leverest Intelligence, (b) Output may not be unique to Users, and (c) Output does not represent Leverest’s views.
  4. Third Party Providers. Leverest uses technology provided by third party service providers in Leverest Intelligence. In User’s use of Leverest Intelligence, including User’s use of Input or Output, User acknowledges and agrees to comply with the policies available here, which may change from time to time.

XI. Further obligations of the User; release

  1. Leverest reserves the right to delete data of the User which are suspected of endangering the
    functionality or the integrity of the Platform, violating applicable legal regulations or rights of third
    parties (in particular copyrights and personal rights).
  2. Furthermore, the User is obliged to enter all information truthfully regarding the company
    profile and the Deals.
  3. Leverest reserves the right to delete data of the User which are suspected of violating this
    section X on the basis of objective facts.
  4. The User shall indemnify Leverest against all damages, claims of third parties, expenses and
    costs (including standard legal fees not limited to the statutory fees) incurred by Leverest due to a violation
    of this section X by the User. Further contractual and statutory rights and claims of Leverest remain
    unaffected.

XII. Liability

  1. The company data of a User, profile and Deal data displayed on the Platform are provided
    exclusively by the respective User (“User Data”). Leverest is not liable for the correctness and completeness of
    User Data. In particular, Leverest does not guarantee the correctness of the User Data and is not liable for the
    conclusion of a Transaction between the Users after the initial contact has been established.
  2. The User understands and acknowledges that Leverest makes no representation, express or implied,
    as to the accuracy or completeness of the Confidential Information or User Data. The limitations of liability
    apply accordingly in favor of the legal representatives, employees, agents, vicarious agents and assistants of
    Leverest.
  3. The User acknowledges and agrees that Leverest may be entitled to injunctive relief to prevent
    breaches of this General Terms & Conditions and to specifically enforce the terms and provisions hereof, in
    addition to any other remedy to which Leverest may be entitled at law or in equity.
  4. If Leverest – for whatever reason – is held liable for damages which are based on slight
    negligence by a User, the claims for damages are limited to the Platform Fees which Leverest has charged to the
    User for the respective Successful Deal. The liability is limited to the typical and foreseeable damage at the
    time of the conclusion of this General Terms & Conditions. Lost profits are excluded. Except for damages
    caused by intent or gross negligence or due to injury to life, limb or health, in which case liability is not
    limited.

XIII. Blocking a user account

  1. Leverest reserves the right to temporarily or permanently block User accounts in the event of
    serious or repeated violations of the General Terms and Conditions. Further legal and contractual rights and
    claims of Leverest remain unaffected.
  2. A serious breach of the General Terms and Conditions terms shall be deemed to exist in particular
    if there are concrete indications that a User
    • uses the Platform without having an interest in a Transaction or a Successful Deal
    • attempts to circumvent, directly or indirectly, the obligation to pay the remuneration
      pursuant to the Compensation Table,
    • does not comply with the Notification Obligation,
    • does not meet the payment obligation, or
    • violates obligations other sections of these General Terms and Conditions.

XIV. Availability of the Platform

  1. The User acknowledges that Leverest cannot guarantee permanent availability of the Platform.
    There is no claim to permanent availability.
  2. Leverest endeavors to realize a smooth and continuous availability of the Platform, taking into
    account the technical possibilities.

XV. Final provisions

  1. Leverest is entitled to change these General Terms and Conditions at any time. The User will be
    informed about the change at least four weeks before the intended change is made to the General Terms and
    Conditions via the User profile or via the contact email stores in the user profile. If the User does not object
    to the change within four weeks of receipt of the notification, the new General Terms and Conditions shall be
    deemed to have been accepted by the User. In the notification of the change, Leverest will make special
    reference to this deadline and the importance of remaining silent. This change mechanism does not apply to
    changes to the main performance obligations of the parties.
  2. The law of the Federal Republic of Germany shall apply, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts
    for the International Sale of Goods.
  3. Exclusive place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising from or in connection with this contract
    is the registered seat of Leverest, provided that the parties are merchants or the user has no general place of
    jurisdiction in Germany or in another EU member state or has moved his permanent residence abroad after these
    terms of use have come into effect or the place of residence or usual abode is unknown at the time of filing a
    suit.
  4. Should any of the provisions of these be General Terms and Conditions ineffective, the remaining
    provisions shall remain effective. The parties shall replace the invalid provision by a provision which comes
    closest to the parties’ intention in economic terms. This applies accordingly in the event of loopholes in the
    regulations.

Third Party Technology in Leverest Intelligence

  •  Azure OpenAI’s Usage Policy, available here