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Cash Payment Cap of 10,000 Euros from July 2027: What Owners of Cash-Heavy Businesses Should Check Before a Sale
From 10.07.2027 an EU-wide cap of 10,000 euros applies to cash payments in trade.
Due Diligence 2027: The New Review Items Buyers Will Ask About
E-invoicing, retention periods, interest on back taxes, shareholder current accounts, pay transparency: which items are new in due …
Investment Screening: When a Sale to a Buyer from Outside the EU Needs Approval
The new EU screening regulation applies from 17.01.2028.
Minimum Wage of 14.60 Euros from 2027: What Labour-Intensive Businesses Need to Know About Their Value
The German minimum wage rises 5.04 per cent to 14.60 euros on 1 January 2027.
KfW loans for business succession: how successors finance the takeover
Three KfW programmes finance the takeover of a company: StartGeld up to 200,000 euros, ERP-Förderkredit Gründung und Nachfolge up to …
Corporate Income Tax Falls to 10 Per Cent by 2032: Why the Value of Your GmbH Can Rise
Corporate income tax falls in steps from 15 to 10 per cent from 2028.
Real Estate Income Tax from 2027: Selling Business Property and What Changes for Old Holdings
From 2027 the Austrian real estate income tax on old holdings rises from an effective 4.2 to 6 per cent.
47 Per Cent Top Tax Rate: What the 2027 Income Tax Reform Leaves of Your Sale Proceeds
The government draft introduces 47 per cent from 280,000 euros.
Giving the Business to Your Children Before the Inheritance Tax Ruling: Options and Safeguards
Bring it forward, wait or not gift at all?
Shareholder Current Account from 2027: What the Deemed Distribution Means for GmbH Owners and a Sale
From the financial year ending in 2027, a shareholder current account above 50,000 euros counts as a distribution in Austria – taxed at …
Tax Changes in 2027 for Business Sellers: What Changes in Germany and Austria
Twelve changes affecting sellers and successors from 2027 – from the inheritance tax case and the top tax rate in Germany to shareholder …
Inheritance Tax Before the Federal Constitutional Court: What It Means for Business Successors
On 12 and 13 October 2026 Karlsruhe hears the inheritance tax cases – on the second day directly on the relief for business assets.
Practical Guide to Selling a Company: The Ten Decisions Owners Make Themselves
Practical Guide to Selling a Company: The Ten Decisions Owners Make Themselves
Ten decisions that neither adviser nor buyer can take off your hands — from route and goals through timing, price and buyer type to …
M&A Market Germany 2027: What Studies and Forecasts Show for Sellers
M&A Market Germany 2027: What Studies and Forecasts Show for Sellers
There is no published forecast of German deal numbers for 2027 — but there are sourced figures for 2026, models to 2028 and clear signals …
Taking Over a Business: Lease, Key Money, Inventory and Staff — What You Really Take On
Anyone taking over a business buys the location, customer base, inventory and staff – and everything the predecessor left unsettled.
Valuing a Freight Forwarder: Fleet, Gross Margin and What Buyers Check
For a freight forwarder, revenue says little about value.
Revenue Multiple: When Revenue Carries the Value — and When It Does Not
A revenue multiple always contains an unspoken assumption about margin.
Will the Sale Proceeds Fund Your Retirement? The Calculation That Comes Too Late
Many owners treat their company as their retirement plan — without knowing either its after-tax value or their own pension gap.
Business Takeover: What Buyers Must Check First
A takeover starts with revenue, a workforce and market access — and with everything that was never tidied up over twenty years.
Capitalisation Rate: The Discount Rate That Moves Company Value
Risk-free base rate, risk premium, growth deduction: what the capitalisation rate is made of, which figures currently apply, and why one …
How to Value a Company in Austria: KFS/BW 1, Multiples and What Is Left After Tax
How to calculate the value of an Austrian mid-sized company — adjusted EBITDA, multiples, net debt — and when the KFS/BW 1 standard …
Buying a Stake in a Company: Routes, Rights and Price for Minority and Majority Shares
Buying into a company is not the same as buying one.
EV/EBITDA: What the Multiple Says — and Where It Misleads
Why EV/EBITDA is the most widely used valuation multiple in M&A, how it differs from ratios built on the equity value — and the three cases …
Betriebsverpachtung: Leasing Out a Business Instead of Selling It
Leasing out a business is not a sale — and it decides what happens to hidden reserves, to the type of income earned and to the succession …
Financing a Company Acquisition in Austria: Equity, Bank Debt, aws Guarantee, Vendor Loan
The four building blocks that carry an acquisition, why the bank asks about debt service capacity rather than the equity ratio, and why the …
Buying a Company in Austria: Process, Checks and Buyer Liability
Five phases from first contact to closing, the formal requirements for transferring GmbH shares, and the liabilities that attach to a buyer …
The Simplified Capitalised Earnings Method: How the German Tax Office Values Your Company
For gifts and inheritances the German tax office calculates under §§ 199 ff.
Section 613a BGB: What Happens to Employees in a Business Transfer
In an asset deal, employment contracts pass to the buyer automatically.
Verschonungsregelung: How Business Assets Pass Tax-Free in a German Handover
85 or 100 per cent of business assets can pass free of German gift and inheritance tax — if the payroll test and the holding period hold.
Selling Through a Holding Company: How § 8b KStG Cuts the Tax Rate
Where a holding company owns the shares, 95 percent of the gain is tax-exempt on a sale.
W&I Insurance in a Company Sale: Cost, Process and Limits
Premium, limit of cover, retention: how W&I insurance backs the warranties given in a sale agreement — and why it is increasingly standard …
Purchase Price Mechanics in a Company Sale: Locked Box, Closing Accounts and Holdbacks
Locked Box or Closing Accounts, working capital, holdbacks, earn-out: why two offers of the same size mean very different payouts — and …
Shareholders' Agreement with an Investor: What You Actually Give Up
Reserved matters, drag-along, liquidation preference, leaver clauses: what the shareholders' agreement says decides how freely you can act …
M&A Advisers in Austria: Market, Trade Licence and the Limits of the Succession Exchange
The market for independent M&A advisers in Austria is small and the trade is regulated.
Selling a GmbH with Debts: Routes, Deadlines and Liability
Selling an indebted GmbH: the duty to file for insolvency under § 15a InsO, transferring restructuring, the one-euro sale, and why a …
Selling a GmbH Shell: What It Is Worth and What It Is Not
Selling a GmbH shell or a shelf company: what a shell is genuinely worth, why loss carry-forwards lapse under § 8c KStG, and when personal …
Genussrechte (profit participation rights)
The Genussrecht is the freest mezzanine instrument and the one with the most hidden traps.
Subordinated Loans (Nachrangdarlehen): Ranking, Balance Sheet and Insolvency
The subordinated loan is the most frequently misdescribed mezzanine instrument.
The Settlement Credit of a Silent Partner: Valuation, Maturity, Tax
§ 235 HGB and § 186 UGB require a settlement in cash but govern neither valuation nor maturity nor interest.
Mezzanine Capital: Forms, Cost and Balance Sheet Treatment
Mezzanine is not a legal term but a collective name for four instruments.
Silent Partnership Taxation in Austria and Germany
The tax burden on a silent partnership is routinely set too low.
Taking On a Silent Partner: The Process in Austria and Germany
Bringing in a silent partner rarely fails over money.
The Silent Partnership Agreement (stille Beteiligung): Form, Clauses and Pitfalls
A silent partnership agreement is form-free — which is exactly why the signed document becomes the only basis in a dispute.
Atypical silent partnership (atypisch stille Beteiligung)
A silent partnership is atypical only when the silent partner is a co-entrepreneur for tax purposes.
Companies for Sale: Where the Listings Are and How to Find Them
Where offers of companies for sale actually sit — public marketplaces, chambers of commerce, M&A advisers and the off-market segment …
Investor Networks: How to Reach the Right Investors
Database, platform or a network built over more than 15 years?
Finding an Investor With an Adviser: Process, Role and Costs
How a professional investor search runs, what an adviser contributes at each stage, and what the mandate costs — from defining the …
NDA and Confidentiality in a Company Sale: What Secrecy Protects
An NDA is the first document signed in a sale process.
Business exchanges compared: nexxt-change, the WKO exchange and private platforms
Which business exchange suits your company? nexxt-change, the WKO succession exchange and the Deutsche Unternehmerbörse compared — …
Clarifying Business Succession: The Decision Many Owners Defer
Before a succession can be arranged, it has to be clarified: whether, when and to whom you hand over.
Selling a company and business succession: when a sale is the right route to succession
Where no successor stands ready in the family, a sale is often the most orderly route to succession.
Sell-Side M&A: The Company Sale Seen from the Seller Side
Sell-side M&A is the company sale from the seller side: seven process steps, three process types, mandate points, and why independence …
Minority Shareholdings: Rights, Value and When They Make Sense
A minority stake is often worth less on the market than its percentage suggests.
Financial Investors: Fund Logic, Investor Types and What Follows for Sellers
A financial investor does not act on taste but on the mechanics of his fund.
Arranging a Succession: Putting the Handover in Order in Good Time
Arranging a succession is more than choosing a successor: it means putting the handover in order legally, organisationally and fiscally …
Silent partnership (stille Beteiligung) and silent partner: capital without voting rights
Capital into the business without giving up voting rights: forms of silent partnership, the legal position in Austria and Germany, tax …
Selling a Company in Austria: Notariatsakt, KESt and Firmenbuch
Selling a company in Austria means playing by Austrian rules: a notarial deed for GmbH shares, the Firmenbuch and KESt.
Growth Capital: Taking On an Investor Without Selling the Company
Growth capital funds expansion without you giving up control.
Selling Your Company to a Financial Investor: Process, Price and What Changes
Selling to a financial investor is a different transaction from selling to a strategic buyer.
How businesses and successors find each other
“Successor wanted” is becoming the norm. Where the listings are, why listings fail, and what those handing over and those taking over need …
Tax on Selling a Business in Austria: What Is Left After Tax
The legal form decides the tax bill on a sale: 27.5 per cent on a GmbH share, or the income tax tariff with an allowance and the half rate …
Selling a Shareholding: Share, Silent Partnership or Minority Stake
The form you hold decides value, consent and tax: GmbH share, limited partnership interest and silent partnership compared.
EBIT or EBITDA: the difference and what it means for valuation
EBIT or EBITDA — the difference is depreciation, and it decides which multiple fits your business model.
Business-for-Sale Platforms: How Succession Exchanges Work
nexxt-change, the WKO succession exchange and private platforms: what business-for-sale marketplaces deliver, what listings cost and how to …
Business Brokers: Why Selling a Company Is No Estate Agency Job
Business broker sounds like estate agent — a misleading comparison.
Choosing an M&A advisor: criteria, questions and red flags
How to recognise a good M&A advisor: six selection criteria, the right questions for the first meeting — and the warning signs at which you …
Selling a GmbH in Austria: What Remains After Tax
GmbH sold — what remains net? A worked example with the 27.5 % special rate, the holding question and when opting for standard taxation …
Selling a GmbH Share: Notarial Deed, Consent and Process
A GmbH business share in Austria transfers only by notarial deed (Sec. 76 GmbH Act).
Selling Company Shares: Getting a Partial Sale Right
Selling company shares means selling control in stages: minority or majority, to co-shareholders, an investor or management.
Asset Deals in Austria: Taxes, Fees and Execution
What an asset deal triggers for tax in Austria: real estate transfer tax, VAT, 15-year goodwill amortisation — and how it hits sellers and …
Selling a GbR Partnership Share: Consent, Process and Tax
A share in a German GbR partnership can only be transferred with the other partners' consent.
Preparing to Sell Your Company: The Documents You Need
Three document packages decide the speed and price of a company sale: baseline numbers, information memorandum and data room.
The Asset-Based Valuation: When Substance Value Counts
Substance value counts what is there — not what the company earns.
Business Succession in Germany: Figures, Trends and Routes (2026)
How many owners in Germany hand over, how many close down — and why KfW and IfM Bonn report such different numbers.
The Owner's Emergency Plan: If the Owner Suddenly Fails
What happens if the owner suddenly fails: by legal form, with power of attorney, Prokura and emergency managing director.
Selling Your Company to a Foreign Buyer: Opportunities and Process
Those who only search for buyers at home leave out strategic bidders.
The share purchase agreement (SPA): what it must contain
The company purchase agreement (SPA) translates the negotiation result into binding rules.
What Does a Company Valuation Cost?
The cost of a company valuation ranges from zero to five-figure amounts.
Startup Exit: When and How Founders Approach the Sale
The trade sale is the standard startup exit.
5 Mistakes When Selling a Company — and How to Avoid Them
Most company sales fail not because of the market but because of avoidable seller mistakes.
Preparing Succession: Making Your Company Transferable
A transferable company runs without its owner.
Preparing a Company Sale: The First 12–24 Months
Preparation decides the sale price before the first buyer sits at the table.
Exit Strategy: How Owners and Founders Prepare Their Exit
An exit strategy defines how and when you exit your company — and to whom.
Selling a Business: What Transfers, What You Are Liable For, What Is Taxed
Selling a business means selling an aggregate of assets, not a share: machinery, stock, contracts, employees, goodwill.
Business Succession: Taking Over a Business Instead of Starting One
How to take over an existing business rather than starting one: what to check, how financing works and where to find businesses.
Business handover in Austria: trade licence, notary and deadlines
How to hand over a business in Austria: process, steps, trade licence and tax — the practical overview for owners handing over.
M&A Adviser: What They Do and When You Need One
What an M&A adviser does, when the guidance pays off, what it costs and how to find the right one for your company sale.
Company Handover: To Family, Employees or an External Successor
To whom you can hand over your firm — family, employees or external — how to decide fairly and which soft factors decide whether it …
Company Sale Checklist: All Phases at a Glance
Company sale checklist with concrete to-dos per phase: preparation, data room, valuation, buyer approach, LOI, due diligence, SPA, closing.
Selling a GmbH: Tax in a Share Deal and an Asset Deal
Selling a GmbH and understanding the tax: share deal vs. asset deal, capital gains tax in Austria, participation exemption and the German …
Multiples Valuation: Company Value via Market Multiples
Multiples valuation: EBIT, EBITDA and revenue multiples, enterprise value vs. equity value, and the limits of the method.
Stuttgart Method: Abolished Since 2009
The Stuttgart method was abolished in 2009.
IDW S1: The Objectified Company Value Explained
IDW S1 governs company valuation in Germany.
Information Memorandum: The Central Document in a Sale
The information memorandum is the central sale document.
Indicative Offer: The Non-binding Price in the M&A Process
An indicative offer is a buyer's first, non-binding price indication.
Carve-out: Cleanly Separating and Selling Parts of a Company
A carve-out is the separation of a defined part of a company for sale.
Net Debt: What Net Financial Debt Moves in the Purchase Price
Net debt is financial debt adjusted for liquid funds.
Selling your business yourself: process for EPU, GbR and OG
An EPU (sole proprietorship), GbR or OG can, with structure, also sell its business itself.
Financing a Management Buy-Out: How Employees Buy the Company
In a management buy-out the existing management buys the company — rarely from equity alone.
Vendor Loan: Function, Risks and Fair Structuring
A vendor loan is part of the purchase price the seller defers for the buyer — with interest, in instalments.
Business closure or sale? What pays off for owners, and when
Owners without a successor face a choice: sell or close the business down.
How Do I Find the Right Buyer for My Business?
You do not find the right buyer by waiting, but through a structured process: a long list, anonymous outreach and competition between …
How Long Does It Take to Sell a Business?
From preparation to closing, selling a business typically takes 3 to 12 months according to IGCP's assessment.
What Does an M&A Advisor Cost? Retainer, Success Fee and Contract Clauses
Retainer, success fee and tiered scales: how the fee is structured, what the percentage is calculated on, and the five clauses in the …
Asset Deal or Share Deal? A Comparison for Sellers
In a share deal the shares change owner, in an asset deal individual assets.
Why Price Isn't Everything — Even in a 100% Sale
Even a 100% sale is a succession and must be well structured.
Succession exchange or M&A advisor? What really lifts the price
Succession exchanges are a good entry point — but a structured, confidential process with an M&A advisor can raise the purchase price …
Business Succession Tax: Sale, Gift, Inheritance (2026)
Sale, gift or inheritance: how tax on business succession broadly works in Austria — an orientation that does not replace tax advice.
Letter of Intent (LOI): Meaning and What It Should Contain
A letter of intent records the key terms of a planned company purchase.
Vendor Due Diligence: When the Seller Checks First
In a vendor due diligence the seller has the company reviewed in advance.
Earnings Value Method vs. DCF: Two Routes to Company Value
Both methods value future earning power — by different routes.
Business Handover Checklist: The Key Steps and Pitfalls
Step by step from preparation through valuation and negotiation to the transfer — the business handover checklist plus the most common …
Business Handover: The Guide from Plan to Transfer
Passing a company to a successor in an orderly way: the key decisions, the phases and the right lead time — the guide to a business …
Succession Solutions: What Options Owners Really Have
Family-internal, MBO/MBI, external sale, partial sale or a foundation: the succession solutions at a glance — and which one fits your goals.
Selling a Sole Proprietorship: What Owners and One-Person Businesses Need to Know
A sole proprietorship is always sold as an asset deal.
Asset Deal: What It Means and When It Is the Right Choice
In an asset deal the buyer acquires individual assets instead of shares.
EBITDA Multiples by Industry: Ranges and How to Read Them
Current EBITDA multiple ranges in the DACH region for 20 industries (DUB KMU Multiples, as of Q3/2026) — and why the table is only the …
What Is an Earn-Out? How It Works, the Risks, and Fair Structuring
An earn-out ties part of the purchase price to the company's future.
Selling a GmbH: Process, Particulars and Pitfalls
A GmbH sells differently from a sole proprietorship.
Business Succession Without Family: Paths to External Succession
No child who wants to take over — now what?
Increasing Enterprise Value: Five Levers Before a Sale
A company's value can be raised deliberately — ideally years before a sale.
MBO vs. MBI: Two Paths of Business Succession Compared
Management buy-out or management buy-in? Who takes over the company, the advantages and drawbacks of each path, and when which one fits.
What Is Due Diligence? Process and Significance in a Company Sale
Due diligence is the careful examination of a company by the buyer.
Strategic Buyer or Financial Investor: Who Buys Your Company?
A strategic buyer pays for entrepreneurial benefit, a financial investor for returns.
When Is the Right Time for Succession or Sale?
The best time is rarely the one when you have to.
Five M&A Terms Every Seller Should Know
Due diligence, LOI, SPA, earn-out, multiple: five terms that come up in every sale process — explained briefly before you enter …
The Course of a Company Sale: From Preparation to Closing
A company sale follows a structured process.
Business Succession: The Five Phases of an Orderly Handover Process
Succession is not an event but a process over years.
What Is My Company Worth? An Overview of Valuation Methods
Net asset value, income value/DCF and multiples: three logics for gauging your company's value — and why the price emerges in negotiation.