Ein Stapel goldener und silberner Münzen neben einem Haufen Kugelschreiber

Selling a compa­ny - strate­gic vs. finan­cial investors

The decis­i­on for a buyer in a compa­ny sale is proba­b­ly one of the most important. Strate­gic inves­tors and finan­cial inves­tors often appear even in the case of medium-sized compa­nies that are facing a genera­tio­nal change. This artic­le looks at the three main diffe­ren­ces between inves­tors in the sale of a company.

For many entre­pre­neurs, selling a business is a one-off act. For this reason, the process is natural­ly accom­pa­nied by advisors. Very often the terms “strate­gic inves­tor” and “finan­cial inves­tor” are used. These terms are by no means easy to distin­gu­ish. Thus, they are partly confu­sing for the entre­pre­neur who wants to hand over his company.

Strate­gic investors

Strate­gic inves­tors as compa­ny buyers have an interest in the acqui­si­ti­on that goes beyond the finan­cial. This is becau­se a strate­gic inves­tor runs a compa­ny himself. With the purcha­se of the compa­ny, he intends to impro­ve (whate­ver that may look like) his market positi­on. Syner­gy effects are to be exploi­ted, further resour­ces are to be acqui­red to take on larger orders or a new, strate­gic pillar of the compa­ny is to be created. These are just a few possi­bi­li­ties for a strate­gic investor.

Finan­cial investors

In Germa­ny, finan­cial inves­tors have only been active since the end of the 1980s and begin­ning of the 1990s. During this time, compa­nies were founded for the first time whose sole purpo­se was to acqui­re compa­nies and sell them at a profit. These types of compa­ny buyers there­fo­re do not develop any direct opera­tio­nal activi­ties at the purcha­sed object. Rather, they merely hold and manage their invest­ments with the purpo­se of genera­ting a high return on the sale. The terms “public equity” and “priva­te equity” also belong in this context.

Priva­te equity and public equity

Priva­te equity is the raising of equity capital outside the stock exchan­ge. In contrast, the term public equity includes the raising of equity capital on the stock exchanges.

3 Reasons for this distinction

  • The holding period of the purcha­sed proper­ty is diffe­rent: The holding period with strate­gic inves­tors will natural­ly be much longer than with finan­cial inves­tors. A strate­gist there­fo­re always has an interest in a long-term acqui­si­ti­on. After all, new markets and corpo­ra­te strate­gies need time and patience. Finan­cial inves­tors, on the other hand, often have a holding period alrea­dy firmly ancho­red in their corpo­ra­te strategies.
  • Purcha­se price negotia­ti­ons have a diffe­rent background: All buyers natural­ly want to pay the lowest possi­ble purcha­se price. A finan­cial inves­tor will there­fo­re prima­ri­ly focus on the figures when negotia­ting the purcha­se price. He must optimi­se his return. A strate­gic inves­tor natural­ly also looks at the figures, but has a diffe­rent focus. He wants to plan for the long term with the compa­ny. For him, the business model and the resour­ces are more important than the return on a sale.
  • The effort of due diligence: In due diligence, a strate­gic inves­tor will often do the due diligence himself. He has his own compa­nies and knows what to look for. The strate­gist usual­ly knows the market. As a result, he can assess the compa­ny situa­ti­on quite well himself. A finan­cial inves­tor, on the other hand, will proba­b­ly rely more on exter­nal consul­tants for due diligence. The effort is corre­spon­din­gly higher.

These were the two diffe­rent types of inves­tors in the sale of a compa­ny. In additi­on, there are other points to consider when selling a compa­ny. You can find out what these are from KERN founder Nils Koerber in the free Webinar Compa­ny sale without risk and loss of value.

Tips for further reading:

KERN study on business succes­si­on in Germa­ny 2020: Acute lack of succes­sors threa­tens family businesses

Comment: Unresol­ved compa­ny succes­si­ons endan­ger our prosperity

Advice traps in the process of business succession

The costs of a business succes­si­on or an M&A project

Compa­ny succes­si­on: Why a pure success fee makes serious advice difficult

Compa­nies in the IT sector

The 5 most important contents of an entre­pre­neu­ri­al emergen­cy kit

Strong increase in business succes­si­ons in Swabia


What distin­gu­is­hes finan­cial inves­tors and strate­gists in the sale of compa­nies?

Strate­gic inves­tors have an interest in the purcha­se beyond the finan­cial. After all, they run a compa­ny themsel­ves. With the compa­ny purcha­se they hope to gain a strate­gic advan­ta­ge in the market. This could be, for examp­le, the use of syner­gy effects or the expan­si­on of resour­ces for larger orders.
Finan­cial inves­tors on the other hand, pursue a purely finan­cial interest. To this end, they buy compa­nies and sell them on at a profit. There­fo­re, they do not become direct­ly opera­tio­nal. Instead, they hold and manage their invest­ment to increase the value of the compa­ny. Becau­se that way, their profit increa­ses when they sell the company. 

Why is the distinc­tion between strate­gists and finan­cial inves­tors so important?

1. diffe­rent holding periodsStrate­gists natural­ly hold their invest­ment much longer than finan­cial inves­tors. After all, new markets and corpo­ra­te strate­gies also need more time. Finan­cial inves­tors, on the other hand, often have a holding period written into their corpo­ra­te strategy.
2. changed focus in the purcha­se price negotia­ti­onAll inves­tors natural­ly want to pay the lowest possi­ble purcha­se price. A finan­cial inves­tor focuses prima­ri­ly on the figures. After all, he has to optimi­se the return. Of course, the figures are also important for the strate­gic inves­tor. But his focus is on the business model and the resour­ces. After all, he wants to plan for the long term with the compa­ny.
3. the effort of the due diligenceA strate­gic inves­tor often carri­es out the due diligence himself. After all, he has gained his own experi­ence in the market with his own compa­nies. In contrast, a finan­cial inves­tor usual­ly commis­si­ons an exter­nal consul­tant with the due diligence. This increa­ses the effort.