As the Saarland Offensive for Start-ups announced at the event “Gründen. Buy. Merge. What suits me?”, around 1600 companies are facing a business succession in Saarland by 2021. On the occasion of the information evening on business succession Saarland in the forum of the Sparkasse Saarbrücken, the speakers emphasised the importance of timely preparation of a succession.

“There is no learning curve in corporate takeovers. They work out ? or they fail,” said Marco Mathieuadvisor to the development bank SIKB. For this reason, professional and timely preparation of the succession by the transferring entrepreneur is indispensable. On the part of the prospective successor, it must be clarified in advance whether the candidate is suitable for the role of entrepreneur. “An entrepreneur must not only have excellent product and sales skills, but he must also be able to communicate with employees and customers, for example. This is not for everyone” explained Thomas Dörr, partner at K.E.R.N - Die Nachfolgespezialisten in Frankfurt, who addressed the practical and emotional aspects of company takeovers in his presentation. From a successor’s point of view, buying a company is often like an emotional rollercoaster. Phases of tension and euphoria are often replaced by frustrating experiences, for example because the first attempt at a supposedly suitable target company does not work out. This is where patience and perseverance count!

Buying a company is like an emotional rollercoaster ride

A potential company successor should be well prepared for the purchase process. Ideally, he or she will have dealt in detail with the practices of a takeover such as purchase price determination and financing as well as due diligence. Anyone who understands the parameters of a business valuation will enter into the purchase price and financing negotiations stronger and more confident. The same applies to recognising the opportunities and risks of the target company during the company audit (Due Diligence). The selection of suitable partners such as experienced lawyers and succession advisors are also part of the preparation phase.

Company exchanges facilitate the process of company succession

“Those who have the necessary skills and are well prepared have the very best opportunities today to find their target company and take it over successfully,” Dörr continues. A number of company exchanges are now available to help. The leading one in the Saarland and neighbouring regions is the SaarLorLux Company Exchange for example, currently already has almost 120 companies on offer, such as the board of the Sparkasse Saarbrücken, Uwe Johmannconfirmed. Therefore, nothing stands in the way of a successful business succession in Saarland.