The Wheatley Group
The Wheatley Group describes itself as a Scottsdale, Arizona merger-and-acquisition advisory firm serving companies interested in selling or acquiring businesses. Its stated services include sell-side and buy-side advisory, valuation, preparation, marketing, negotiation, financing assistance, and closing support.
What stands out about The Wheatley Group
The Wheatley Group publicly presents a small to mid-market M&A advisory model covering both seller and buyer representation. Its stated selling-client concentration is Arizona, the Southwest, and other Western states, while acquiring clients are described as coming from throughout the United States and internationally.[1][2][3][4][5]
What does The Wheatley Group do?
The Wheatley Group describes itself as a merger-and-acquisition advisory firm based in Scottsdale, Arizona. It provides services to clients interested in selling or acquiring companies.
The firm identifies Rick Shapiro as President and CEO and Steve Ferber as Senior M&A Advisor. Its stated advisory activities focus on small to mid-market arenas.[1][3]
Publicly stated services include sell-side advisory, buy-side advisory, financing assistance, and consultation and preparation services.
The firm describes its sell-side process as including exit-strategy preparation, valuation, packaging, positioning, marketing, negotiation, and closing assistance. It also states that it assists buyers with acquisition opportunities, negotiations, and procuring private-equity, debt, SBA, and bank financing.[2][3]
Owners comparing advisory firms can also review Auxo’s M&A advisor vs. business broker vs. investment bank comparison, advisor-selection guide, and sell-side advisor evaluation framework.
What should a business owner evaluate before hiring The Wheatley Group?
An owner evaluating The Wheatley Group can clarify how the firm would apply its stated preparation, valuation, packaging, positioning, marketing, negotiation, financing, and closing services to the owner’s transaction. The firm describes the majority of its selling clients as headquartered in Arizona, the Southwest, and other Western states, while its acquiring clients are described as coming from throughout the United States and internationally.
The cited public sources do not establish transaction values, dates, fee terms, engagement thresholds, or firm-level securities-registration status. Those points, along with current sector-specific experience, buyer qualification practices, legal-entity responsibility, conflicts, and recent closed transactions, should be confirmed directly with the firm.[1][2][3][4][5]
What are the firm’s current sector-specific closed transactions and references
Which portions of the process are handled in-house versus by outside professionals
What are the engagement fee, success fee, expense, exclusivity, termination, and tail provisions
What size transactions and clients does The Wheatley Group focus on?
The Wheatley Group states that it manages transactions in all kinds of industries. Its President and CEO states that he has sold companies in virtually every sector of the marketplace.[3]
The official testimonials page identifies a completed purchase of majority ownership in AEI in which The Wheatley Group assisted the buyer. It also identifies the firm’s involvement in the Westland Industries transaction and names Prospect Partners as the private-equity buyer testimonial source.
Other representative seller engagements include a manufacturing company sold to a worldwide NYSE company, a service company sold to a NASDAQ company, and a service/fabrication company sale.[4]
The firm’s stated transaction focus spans both seller representation and buyer representation. Its described activities include exit preparation, valuation, marketing, acquisition searches, negotiation, financing assistance, and closing support.[2][3]
What does The Wheatley Group publicly disclose about fees, process and engagement terms?
The official testimonials page identifies transaction examples but does not disclose transaction dates or consideration amounts for the AEI, Westland Industries, manufacturing, service, or service/fabrication examples.
The official contact page does not state a firm-level broker-dealer registration, investment-adviser registration, or securities-license status. The official home page does not publish a universal revenue, EBITDA, enterprise-value, transaction-size, or minimum-engagement threshold, nor does it publish a fee schedule, success-fee percentage, minimum fee, expense schedule, termination provision, or tail-period provision.[2][4][5]
The official website presents The Wheatley Group as a Scottsdale-based merger-and-acquisition advisory firm and identifies Rick Shapiro as President and CEO and Steve Ferber as Senior M&A Advisor.
The management page describes Rick Shapiro as an inactive attorney, licensed real estate broker, and Certified Business Intermediary, and Steve Ferber as a licensed real estate agent. These are individual credentials. The cited official contact page does not state a firm-level broker-dealer registration, investment-adviser registration, or securities-license status.[3][5]
The firm states that its sell-side process can extend from exit-strategy preparation and valuation through packaging, positioning, marketing, negotiation, and closing assistance. For buyers, it describes acquisition-opportunity searches, negotiation support, and assistance procuring private-equity, debt, SBA, and bank financing.[3]
Questions to ask before hiring The Wheatley Group
What are the firm’s current sector-specific closed transactions and references?
Which portions of the process are handled in-house versus by outside professionals?
What are the engagement fee, success fee, expense, exclusivity, termination, and tail provisions?
How does the firm qualify prospective buyers and verify financing capacity?
Which legal entity signs the engagement letter, and what firm-level licenses or registrations apply to the contemplated services?
What transaction values, dates, structures, and buyer identities can be disclosed under confidentiality restrictions?
Sources & research notes
- Official website / firm overview
- Services / capabilities
- Services / capabilities
- Transaction / portfolio evidence
- Public disclosure information
How this profile was researched
Auxo profiles are prepared from publicly available primary and authoritative sources and reviewed for entity identity, factual support and disclosure consistency. When a fact cannot be supported by the reviewed public record, the profile identifies it as something to confirm directly rather than inferring it.
Independent research profile
This profile was prepared by Auxo Capital Advisors from publicly available information believed to be reliable and is provided solely for informational and educational purposes. It is not an endorsement, recommendation, ranking, solicitation, or representation regarding the profiled firm, its services, qualifications, transaction experience, regulatory status, financial condition, or suitability for any particular person, company, transaction, or investment.
Information obtained from third-party and public sources may be incomplete, inaccurate, outdated, or subject to change, and Auxo Capital Advisors makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, as to its accuracy, completeness, or timeliness. Readers should conduct their own independent diligence and consult appropriate professional advisers before engaging any advisor, intermediary, investor, lender, acquirer, or other transaction counterparty.
Broker-dealer and securities disclosure
Auxo Capital Advisors is an affiliate of Weild & Co., Member FINRA | SIPC. Securities-related activities and securities transactions are conducted through Weild & Co.
Nothing contained on this page constitutes an offer to sell, an offer to purchase, or a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any security, investment product, or financial instrument. Nothing on this page constitutes investment advice, a recommendation regarding any security, or a recommendation to enter into any transaction with the profiled firm or any other party.
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Inclusion of a third-party firm in this directory does not imply affiliation with, sponsorship by, endorsement by, or any other relationship with Auxo Capital Advisors or Weild & Co. unless expressly stated otherwise.