Company exchanges are an easy tool to bring company sellers and company buyers together. In part two of our series we take a look at the most important nationwide company exchanges. There are a large number of company exchanges in Germany with different operators. Basically, three nationwide exchanges can be recommended for company searches. In addition, many advisors have access to
Company exchanges support the purchase of companies
1st Nexxt Change Company Exchange
This programme, run by KFW and the Federal Ministry of Economics and nexxt-change-Unternehmensbörse is the largest exchange of its kind in Germany. This is because most of the offers of other company exchanges in Germany are also repeated here. The platform is the central business succession platform for IHKs, chambers of crafts, regional business development agencies and banks.
Many unanswered requests on Nexxt-Change
On this platform, which is free of charge for transferees and transferors, most advertisements for company sales and company searches can be found. Generally, there are more smaller commercial and trading enterprises as well as catering businesses than medium-sized and larger companies. Due to the fact that the platform is free of charge, some offers are not always up to date. In practice, it has been shown that a whole series of contacts to potential business sellers remain unanswered. The background here is a widespread uncertainty on the part of company sellers as to how to deal with enquiries professionally. In this case, it is advisable to call in a consultant, as he or she checks incoming enquiries from interested parties like a filter for seriousness, suitability and, if applicable, capital resources. Only after this check does the consultant obtain clearance to pass on confidential information from the seller.
2nd German Entrepreneurship Exchange
The German Enterprise Exchange is operated by the Handelsblatt publishing group and is fee-based for sellers and buyers. Therefore, the offers are very up-to-date. As a result of the DUB, there are significantly more offers from SMEs and larger companies. Special exchanges for tax consultants and engineering firms round off the offer.
3. KERN stock exchange as a “full-service” company stock exchange
The website run by K.E.R.N ? The Succession Specialists run Company exchange is one of the few company exchanges with “full-service support” on the German Internet. This is because this exchange presents all exclusively managed mandates of the management consultants active at over 20 locations nationwide. As a result, every offer for sale and every candidate application is checked by the consultants before being published. As a result, more than 3,500 MBIs, financial investors and strategic investors are currently listed on this platform with their verified search profiles.
There are also a large number of other company exchanges, most of which have a strong regional focus or a particular industry focus. Due to the small number of offers or their strong regional focus, these company exchanges will not be discussed further here.
4. industry exchanges and matching platforms
In addition to the above-mentioned exchanges, there are a whole range of sector-specific exchanges and matching platforms that can be used to address a large number of potential buyers. These platforms, which are subject to a fee, are used by many professional advisors for business succession and are an essential part of their service.
Click here for the other parts of this series:
Part 1: How a clear search profile facilitates the company search.
Part 2: Which company exchanges are suitable for the search?
Part 3: How can a consultant support a company search?
Part 4: How a direct approach speeds up the company search?
