The Handelsblatt magazine recently published an interesting article on the subject matter of mergers and acquisitions of small and medium-sized entities (SME). According to the magazine about two thirds of all transactions in the M&A business refer to the selling of a company. Seldom the market for the selling of SME had been that favourable as it is now.
Seen from a global point of view, the year 2005 had been the third best ever. For 2006 a lot of activities are expected in this field from prospective buyers from China, India, the Middle East and Russia. This is quite good news for German SME: Already now quite often sellers can choose from several interested parties which means that good prices can be obtained. For the seller, according to the Handelsblatt, there will be costs between two and four percent of the company value including debt. Some M&A consultants, however, work on a success basis, which means that the big share of costs will only have to be paid after the successful completion of the transaction. 