Selling your company to a permanent owner

Roughly a hundred thousand German owners look for a successor every year, and a large share of sound companies close because none is found. The transaction itself is rarely the obstacle. The obstacle is that most owners have never sold a company, do not know what the process looks like, and have heard enough horror stories about buyers who flip, gut, or rename what took thirty years to build.

This is what the process looks like with us, step by step.

Weeks one and two: a conversation, then an NDA

It starts with a few sentences through our contact page. No documents, no broker exposé, no valuation report. A thirty-minute call establishes whether the basics fit: an established business, reliable profit, a team that carries the daily work, customers spread across many accounts. If they do, we sign a confidentiality agreement before any number changes hands.

Weeks three and four: key figures and an indicative offer

You share high-level figures: revenue, profit, customer structure, staffing. We do not need audited perfection at this stage. Within two weeks you receive an indicative offer with a price range and a structure, in writing. If the range disappoints you, you have lost four weeks and learned what your company is worth to a serious buyer. Most owners consider that trade fair.

The middle stretch: focused review

Due diligence with us is scoped to what actually decides the purchase: the quality of earnings, the contracts that carry the revenue, and the people who carry the operations. Your Steuerberater stays involved throughout. We prepare our own financing before the first meeting, so the review is not a fishing expedition for a bank.

Closing and after

The notary appointment fixes what was agreed. Then comes the part that distinguishes a permanent owner: nothing dramatic happens. The name stays, the team stays, the site stays. We strengthen the back office, and the company continues under an owner whose plan is to still hold it in twenty years.

If you are thinking about succession, even on a horizon of years rather than months, an early confidential conversation costs you thirty minutes and commits you to nothing.