Business-for-Sale Platforms: How Succession Exchanges Work

A business-for-sale platform is an online marketplace where sale offers and acquisition requests meet — the best known are nexxt-change in Germany and the WKO succession exchange in Austria. On the publicly backed exchanges, listings are free, can be anonymous and are quickly created. What a platform does not replace: valuation, buyer vetting and negotiation.

How we guide owners through business succession — from the first decision to the handover — is set out on our services page. If you want to understand the sale itself, start with selling a business.

This article explains which platforms exist, how a listing works and who the route suits. Whether a platform or a managed process yields the better price is covered in the comparison Succession platform or M&A advisor.

Which platforms exist?

The landscape falls into three groups. The main platforms at a glance, each with the position stated by its source:

Platform	Operator	Cost to list	Position per source
nexxt-change (Germany)	Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE), KfW, DIHK, ZDH, BVR, DSGV	free	431 regional partners; some 22,300 business handovers initiated since 2006 (KfW Fokus 526, 9 Jan 2026)
WKO succession exchange (Austria)	Austrian Economic Chambers	free	861 listings in the results list, retrieved 6 Oct 2026; anonymised listings possible
Deutsche Unternehmerbörse (DUB)	private	self-reported: listing free for sellers, 2 % brokerage fee for buyers on completion only; sub-pages refer to packages	"over 5,000 vetted companies" (self-reported), retrieved 6 Oct 2026

Publicly backed exchanges: nexxt-change is Germany's largest succession exchange. It is supported through regional partners such as chambers of industry and commerce, crafts chambers, savings banks and cooperative banks; according to KfW they help create and publish the listing and advise on succession questions. On behalf of the BMWE, KfW is rebuilding the platform as "nexxt-change 2.0", with a quality-assured listing process and better matching (KfW Fokus 526). In Austria, the Economic Chamber runs the WKO succession exchange, also free of charge; offers and requests can be filtered by industry and region.

Private platforms: commercial marketplaces, some with add-ons such as matching. Pricing models change — the DUB, for instance, currently states on its home page that listings are free for sellers and that a brokerage fee arises only on completion, while older third-party sources quote monthly prices. Check the terms directly with the provider before you list.

Hidden networks: buyer databases of M&A advisors and banks — not exchanges in the narrow sense, but in practice the channel through which larger companies change hands.

How does a listing work?

The process is similar everywhere. You create an anonymised short profile: industry, region, rough revenue size, reason for handover — without the company name. On nexxt-change, first contact runs through a coded (chiffre) listing and the regional partners. Interested parties respond via the platform; only after first contact and a signed confidentiality agreement do you reveal your identity and details.

The critical point is anonymisation. "Long-established metal processor with 40 employees in the southern Waldviertel" is not anonymity for locals — it is an address. If the sale becomes known prematurely, it unsettles employees, customers and suppliers. Phrase the listing so the industry is recognisable but the business is not — and have a second person review it.

How large is the need — and what does it mean for sellers?

Austria: according to the Ministry of Economy (BMWET, retrieved 6 Oct 2026), some 52,500 companies, excluding one-person businesses, face a handover between 2025 and 2034 — just under 23 per cent of all employer companies, with about 705,000 employees. In 2025, 8,202 businesses changed hands according to the WKO start-up service, 5.3 per cent more than in 2024 and the highest figure since records began in 1998 (WKO Vorarlberg, retrieved 6 Oct 2026).

Germany: the KfW succession monitor counts around 545,000 of 3.87 million SMEs with a succession wish by the end of 2029, about 109,000 a year. 42 per cent of owners planning succession consider a sale to outsiders. KfW names as the biggest stumbling block not the price but the shortage of suitable successor candidates — and it is precisely at making contact that succession exchanges set in (KfW Fokus 526).

For sellers this means: the bottleneck is on the buyer side, not the supply side. A listing creates visibility, but not yet a qualified buyer. You should test how realistic your price expectation is beforehand: KfW estimates the average target sale price of a German SME at around EUR 499,000, with a median of EUR 375,000. These are owners' expectations, not market prices, and they do not replace an individual valuation — a first range is provided by the company valuation calculator.

Who should use a business-for-sale platform?

Small, well-transferable businesses with a regional buyer pool: trades, hospitality, retail, small service firms. The buyer is often an individual from the region — exactly the audience searching on platforms.

The platform reaches its limits where the company is larger, the buyer pool supra-regional or discretion critical. For limited companies of relevant size a managed process is usually the better route — our services page selling a GmbH sets out the framework. A listing is passive — you wait for whoever responds instead of approaching the best buyers. Respondents are unvetted: the platform does not check financing, seriousness or qualification. And the price forms without competition — negotiating with a single interested party means negotiating from the weaker position.

How do you use a platform properly?

Four rules from practice.

Value first, list second. Without a defensible price expectation you negotiate against yourself — the basis is laid in What is my company worth?

Stay anonymous until a confidentiality agreement is signed. Details, numbers and the company name come after — and even then in stages.

Qualify respondents early: proof of funds, motivation, time horizon. Whoever shows no substance after three conversations only costs months.

Treat the platform as one channel among several. The systematic search across all channels — family, management, network, platform, direct approach — is described in the step-by-step guide to finding a successor.

Before the first listing, annual accounts, articles of association and the material contracts should be in order. Anyone who starts gathering documents only after first contact loses pace and credibility.

Typical mistakes when listing

The listing is too specific: industry, place and size together make the business recognisable to locals before any NDA exists.

There is no price expectation that can be justified. The first serious respondent asks about value, and the answer decides what happens next.

The platform is the only channel. A listing that stays unanswered for months is not a finding about the value of the company, but about the reach of the channel.

Figures go out too early. Key figures, customer names and employee data belong behind the signed confidentiality agreement and in a staged release.

FAQ

What does a listing cost?

Nothing on nexxt-change and the WKO exchange — both are publicly backed and free. Private platforms differ: the DUB states no fee for sellers' listings and a 2 per cent brokerage fee for buyers on completion (self-reported, retrieved 6 Oct 2026). Check current terms before you list. Cost is rarely the criterion; what matters is whether the right buyers search there.

Which platform is right for Austria?

The WKO succession exchange is the natural first port of call: free, anonymous listings possible and focused on Austria. Anyone wanting to reach a supra-regional or German buyer pool adds nexxt-change or a private platform.

How long does it take to find a successor via a platform?

Open-ended — a listing is passive and can lead to a deal in weeks, months or never. Never plan the platform as your only channel, but as one building block of a broader search with a realistic lead time of one to three years.

Is a listing really anonymous?

Only as anonymous as you phrase it. Industry plus region plus headcount is often enough for locals to identify the business. The smaller the market, the coarser the details should be — specifics only after a signed confidentiality agreement.

Can I list on several platforms at the same time?

In principle yes, as long as no exclusivity agreement exists. The details should match across platforms and be kept equally coarse; a more precise listing elsewhere cancels the anonymity of the coarser ones.

When is an M&A advisor more suitable than a platform?

When the company is larger, the buyer pool likely supra-regional or strategic, or discretion takes priority. A managed process approaches selected buyers and creates competition for the price; how that works is described under selling a business.

The best succession starts years before closing. Talk to IGCP Capital Partners early and in confidence — independent, discreet, at eye level. → igcp.at

Anyone looking specifically for businesses for sale — buyers and sellers sounding out the market — will find an editorial overview of public and non-public channels in the article Businesses for sale.

Anyone wanting to sell without an advisor will find the process under Selling a business yourself.

Sources

All details retrieved on 6 October 2026: KfW Research, Fokus Volkswirtschaft No. 526, Succession Monitor SMEs 2025 (9 Jan 2026); nexxt-change.org; WKO succession exchange (wko.at/gruendung/nachfolgeboerse, firmen.wko.at/suche_nachfolgeboerse); BMWET, business succession; WKO Vorarlberg, "New record in business successions"; dub.de. This article is not a substitute for legal or tax advice.