The challenge

Arranging succession and financing growth

There are roughly 400,000 small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with annual sales ranging between two and €50 million. Year after year about 25,000 of these companies are handed over to a successor. However, fewer than half of these companies succeed in arranging succession within the owner’s family. Furthermore, numerous partnerships are looking for additional private equity partners, for example to enable further growth. In many cases they not only hope for fresh equity but also for expertise.

There is no shortage of investors

Many companies would like to grow by acquisition. Private and institutional investors are likewise looking to invest in the SME segment, whether as a minority shareholder or buyer. In the past, matching buyers and sellers was usually a process requiring the meticulous and often tedious efforts of specialist consultants. There has got to be a better way!

Newspaper adverts are a thing of the past

Whether we are looking for hotel accommodation, concert tickets or a new life partner: we have become accustomed to using database-driven online platforms and smart algorithms to find the right solutions for our needs. Online apps identify suitable life or business partners from very large pools of potential candidates. But when it comes to matching sellers and buyers of companies, no such online tool has truly succeeded in the market.

Our unique approach

It is true: Databases for company sales existed before COMPANYLINKS was established. But none of these providers was able to meet the requirements of professional market participants. Larger companies, professional investors and renowned consultancies rarely use their services. There are reasons for this, and when developing our concept for COMPANYLINKS we made sure we took those into account. How is COMPANYLINKS different?