A handover that carries the life’s work, and the business.
A succession is the only transaction in which both sides want the same thing and yet rarely mean the same thing. The owner wants continuity, a fair price and the certainty that staff and customers are in good hands. The successor wants to be able to shape the business. The skill lies in bringing both into a structure that still works once the handover is over.
We support successions from the first sorting of thoughts through to completion, within the family, to your own management or to third parties.
What you gain
- 1A realistic value, early on. Price expectations that are based on a life’s work rather than on the figures cost years. A valuation range creates clarity before negotiations begin.
- 2Time as an ally. A well-prepared succession takes two to five years. Those who have this time negotiate from a position of strength.
- 3A company that works without you. Buyers examine the dependence on the owner and deduct it from the price. This can be worked on.
- 4Discretion towards staff and the market. Who learns what and when is planned, not left to chance.
- 5One point of contact for all parties involved. Family, management, buyers, banks and advisers rarely pull in the same direction of their own accord.
Four scenarios
Within the family. The classic route. Many of the issues here lie outside business economics. Alongside valuation, tax and financing, it is about roles, expectations and fairness between siblings. We structure the economic side and make sure the transition phase is clearly regulated: who decides what, and from when.
Management buy-out. The handover to your own executives. They know the business, the risk of misjudgement is low, and the bottleneck is almost always financing. The structure is decisive here: how much equity can the team contribute, which part is financed with debt, which part through vendor participation.
Management buy-in. An external executive takes over. The business remains independent, the know-how comes from outside. This requires careful selection and a longer handover.
Sale to third parties. If no internal solution works, a structured sale is the way forward, following the same rules as any transaction, but with a different emphasis: for many owners, continuity, location and staff carry more weight than the last few percentage points of the price. This too belongs in the selection of interested parties.
What a buyer calculates with
The value of a company is not what has been invested, but what it will earn in the future, discounted to today and tested against what has been paid for comparable companies.
What moves the value in practice:
The first three points can be worked on, but only with lead time. This is the real reason why a succession should start early.
What happens when
Three to five years before: clarifying the target picture, determining a valuation range, reducing dependencies, building up the second level, tidying up the figures and the structure, coordinating tax planning with the tax adviser.
One to two years before: deciding on the succession option, preparing documents, preparing the approach, clarifying the financing structure.
In the year of the handover: negotiation, due diligence, contract, completion, communication to staff, customers and suppliers.
Afterwards: The transition phase, usually six to twenty-four months, in which the outgoing owner remains available. Its rules belong in the contract, not in a verbal agreement. Unclear transition phases are a common reason why an otherwise successful succession ends in dispute.
