Succession planning in SME sector in full swing: Half a million hand-overs by 2017

580,000 SME owners in Germany are planning to hand over or sell their business to a successor between now and 2017. But the number of people willing to take over a business is declining. This makes it more difficult to find a successor. The KfW SME Panel reveals that 9 % of SME owners hope to pass their business on to a family member. A similar number plan to find a solution outside their family. Our surveys reveal that external succession arrangements tend to bring investment to a halt. And there is a risk of asset erosion. However, where a business is handed over to a family member, this is accompanied by noticeably higher levels of investment.

Succession planning in SME sector in full swing: Half a million hand-overs by 2017(PDF, 126 KB, non-accessible)