Nachfolgeplanung

There are generally four types of company succession. Internal succession includes succession within the family and succession by one or more employees (MBO). In the case of external succession, an external buyer/investor is sought. The last type is the liquidation of the company, which is often carried out in one-person companies, for example.

Depending on the planned type of company succession, there are three to six phases. In general, these can be divided into planning, handover and integration. Each phase is individual and has a number of stumbling blocks.

Frequent stumbling blocks are poor planning on the part of the seller, insufficient data, lack of communication between all parties, financing hurdles on the part of the successor, legal and/or tax aspects and family conflicts.

The issues surrounding the real estate must be included in the succession strategy at an early stage, whereby any interests of the future successor must also be taken into account. An assessment should be made as to whether the property should and/or can be sold with the Businesses. Any separation from the business and the Real Estate requires lead time and is generally not tax-neutral. It is therefore important to plan this at an early stage.

The transfer of real estate is generally not tax-neutral, especially if it is part of business assets. Before the circumstances of a property are adjusted, the initial situation and the possible structuring options should be analyzed in detail, any tax and duty consequences determined and the procedure defined on this basis.