Succession report 2026 · as of 6 October 2026

Business succession in Germany's Mittelstand. The 2026 picture.

Handovers, closures, routes, bottlenecks and purchase prices. The key public figures in one place, plus our clearly separated assessment.

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At a glance

Figures
Over 40, each sourced
Sources
KfW, IfM, DIHK, ZDH
Licence
CC BY 4.0, free to cite
Full report
12-page PDF by email (German)

01 · Summary

For the first time, more owners plan to close than to hand over.

545,000

want to arrange a succession by the end of 2029

vs.

569,000

do not plan to continue the business

Source: KfW Research, Fokus Volkswirtschaft No. 526, 9 January 2026 (PDF, German)

Five key findings

  1. 01Around 114,000 businesses a year plan to close without a successor by 2029, while around 109,000 are looking for one.
  2. 02The Mittelstand is ageing: owners planning to hand over soon are 66.5 years old on average.
  3. 03Family remains the preferred route, but sales to outside buyers, employees and co-owners are gaining weight.
  4. 04Successors are in short supply. The share of start-ups that are takeovers has more than halved since 2002.
  5. 05Prices are moderate for half of all businesses. Bureaucracy is becoming a much bigger hurdle.
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02 · Volume

How many businesses hand over or close

Every year KfW asks owners about their plans. The 2025 result: for the first time, planned closures slightly outnumber intended successions.

Two perspectives, do not add up

IfM Bonn does not measure intentions. It estimates how many family businesses are economically strong enough for a handover to be worthwhile and whose owners are reaching retirement age. The figure is smaller because it excludes micro-businesses with no transferable value. It should not be added to the KfW figures.

Source: IfM Bonn, Daten und Fakten No. 37, 2025 (PDF, German)

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  1. 03Who runs the businesses todayThe baby boomers are retiring. This hits the Mittelstand's leadership harder than the labour market as a whole.
  2. 04Which succession routes owners look forMost owners want a family solution. In practice this works in just over half of cases. Routes via outside buyers and the own team are not plan B but everyday reality.
  3. 05Where it sticks: too few people to take overThe problem is not a lack of businesses but a lack of people to carry them on. Starting out through a takeover has become a niche route in Germany.
  4. 06Sectors comparedThe situation is tight in almost every sector. The surplus is largest where many small, staff-intensive businesses are due for handover.
  5. 07What businesses costPrice expectations have risen since 2019. For half of all businesses, though, they sit at around 60% of annual revenue, within what experts consider realistic.
  6. 08Revenue multiples by sector18 sectors from construction and crafts to software, each with a range.
  7. 09Nachfounder's assessmentWhat we read from the figures and what it means for owners and successors.

10 · Method

Method and citation

A compilation of published figures with no projections of our own. KfW figures are owners' intentions, IfM figures are estimates of family businesses ready for handover. Please do not add up figures from different sources. The compilation is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Source: Nachfounder, Succession report 2026, nachfounder.com/en/succession-report-2026

All sources (in German)

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