Business consulting and succession planning

Our business consulting services cover everything from setting up a new business to buying and selling companies or parts of companies, and undertaking transformations and restructurings.

We can advise you on investments and how to finance them, and on drawing up a budget and liquidity plan for a set period. We undertake company restructurings and liquidations and can assist with organising or reorganising your accounting systems.

When consulting, we take a comprehensive approach and carefully analyse your company so as to add value for you. This includes optimising the position held by the company owner in terms of tax, pensions and inheritance.

We can also work with you to prepare your corporate succession, taking into account the business’s interests and those of its owner. We can support you with your company valuation, planning and implementation, and with matters relating to contracts and finances.

We offer advice and support on inheritance-related matters, be that drafting inheritance tax declarations and tax declarations for as yet undistributed inheritances, divisions of inheritance, or inheritance agreements and wills.

We also bring to bear our wealth of experience in supporting you through or leading talks with lenders, investors, etc.

Company valuation

There are many reasons why you might need to value a business; for example if a partner is joining or departing, if part of a company is being spun off, if two companies are merging or – last but not least – if there are plans to buy or sell the business.
 
A valuation serves as point of reference when developing a new strategic direction for your business. Our experts have the knowledge and practical experience needed to determine what your company is worth in the market.

 You can use the market value calculated by our team as a basis for your price negotiations. Because we have conducted dozens of projects, we know the right way to go about negotiating. Once the parties have agreed on the price basis, it’s time to define the transaction model.
The table below shows how a value is developed into a price and, ultimately, a transaction.

Due diligence checks

Due diligence is the detailed examination of a company prior to its valuation and its takeover by its next owners.
In relation to the transfer of ownership of a company, due diligence refers to a meticulous process of scrutiny. It involves carrying out a detailed analysis of the company, its earning power and the quality of its workforce. Tax and legal considerations are also examined, alongside operational aspects. The purpose of the due diligence process is to obtain as much information as possible about the opportunities and risks. This helps those involved to decide whether to proceed with a purchase, to set the price and agree on the contract details, and to establish the fairness of the proposed price tag.
Due diligence is particularly recommended when someone from outside the family is considering a purchase: the external buyer should not rely solely on the company profile put together by its existing owners. Instead, they need to form their own opinion of the business’s market position, market share, competitive situation and all the relevant legal and tax matters.
Due diligence is also in the interests of the person who is handing on or selling the company, as it enables negotiations to proceed more rationally and efficiently. It also allows the change of ownership to be structured in a way that is tax-optimised for the seller as well as the buyer. The seller’s liability risk is also reduced because the new owner is required to take account of the information gathered under the due diligence process. Of course, the contractual agreements that have been reached always take precedence.
 
We look forward to helping you to usher in a new strategic direction.