A MARKET FILLED WITH OPPORTUNITIES
SMEs in Germany
Searching for pearls
99.5%
of all German companies are SMEs, according to BVMW data. That’s a total of 3.5 million companies.
95%
of German SMEs are family-run businesses. 88% are owner-managed.
190,000
owner-managed German companies need successors by 2026, according to IfM Bonn estimates.
Spectacular
Valued at EUR 180 billion, Vodafone’s takeover of Mannesmann in 2000 is the largest acquisition in the world to date.
Deal
Close to a new record
According to a PwC study, 1,696 M&A deals were made in the German-speaking region in the first half of 2021 in transactions valued at around EUR 73.6 billion.
Network success
The Hanseatic merchant
Back in the late Middle Ages, traders realized that the risk of merchants trading alone was simply too high. Instead, merchants in the 14th and 15th centuries joined together to form trading alliances – at the same time retaining their independence as entrepreneurs. Equipped with higher capital and with shared risk, they were able to successfully tackle larger-scale and international projects.
Successful Hanseatic merchant in Upper German trade: Mathias Mulich (1470–1528)
Strong alone?
Legendary rivalries
Acquisitions, mergers and takeovers are a well-proven way of maintaining success on the market. But rivalries can also energize the market …
Investor focus
Sought-after
German companies in the technology sector were most sought-after by investors in 2020 (32%), followed by companies in the industrial production sector (23%).
Family-run businesses
With tradition
The oldest family-run business ever listed by the Family Business Foundation is a metal company in Siegen, Germany – galvanizing specialists The Coatinc Company. Records state that the company was founded in 1502. Back then, the blacksmith Heylmann Dresseler had to pay one shilling for the use of a furnace.
On the list of the 50 oldest German family-run companies, 48 were founded before the French Revolution in 1789 and all of them have remained in the hands of the founding families throughout their histories.
Auf der Liste der 50 ältesten deutschen Familienunternehmen wurden 48 schon vor der Französischen Revolution 1789 gegründet und alle sind ununterbrochen in der Hand der Gründerfamilie geblieben.
Experts in their fields
Sector distribution of
German hidden champions
