Valuation and succession 

We were commissioned to support the succession process in a medium-sized family business (revenues > 80 million euros) and to carry out a company valuation as part of this process. The company had run into financial difficulties a few years before – triggered by an ambitious but ultimately overstretched internationalisation strategy. At the time of our work, the company was already undergoing structural renewal: liquidity had been stabilised, operational improvements had been introduced and a viable business model was back in place – albeit not yet fully developed. 

The valuation was embedded in a comprehensive succession process in which both the ownership structure and the entrepreneurial involvement of the numerous family members were to be reorganised. The aim was to create a transparent and comprehensible valuation basis that was reliable for both the remaining and departing shareholders – and served as a starting point for a fair reorganisation. A key challenge was the projection of future cash flows in a dynamically changing corporate environment. Although initial restructuring successes were visible, the sustainable stability of the business had not yet been conclusively secured. This required cautious modelling based on several scenarios and a deliberate sensitivity to future market, price and cost drivers. 

Dealing with the very heterogeneous ownership structure within the business family was particularly challenging. The numerous family members, some of whom were operationally involved, had different roles and interests – depending on whether they wanted to remain in the company and invest in the future or sell their shares as part of the succession. Our approach was to use structured interviews and cross-comparisons to validate the plausibility of the statements and develop an honest and fair view that was independent of individual interests. 

Another point of relevance was the target group-orientated presentation and explanation of the valuation methodology and results. The presentation was not only a collection of numbers and calculations, but had to be understandable for a non-finance-background family audience. To this end, we developed a visualisation and communication structure that focused on transparency, neutrality and comprehensibility. We subsequently took on a mediating role in the dialogue between the stakeholder groups involved. On the basis of the jointly accepted valuation, we were able to achieve a fair division of the company – without major conflicts and with noticeable mutual understanding. The result was a successful succession process that enabled both the continuation of the company under new responsibility and the orderly depart of individual family members.