Succession Study SME Switzerland 2018
According to the Bisnode D&B succession study, 13.4 percent of companies in Switzerland have a succession problem. This is due to the age of the owners, board members or shareholders. A handover to the next generation takes around five years.
Bisnode's succession study underscores a critical trend: those who cannot find a successor often have to liquidate their company. This is currently the case for around 30 percent of companies. Smaller companies in particular have major succession problems, according to the Bisnode report. Basically, according to Bisnode's figures, companies with up to ten employees are more affected than companies with over 50 employees.
The issue of succession is of great economic importance. If the succession fails, know-how, jobs and tax revenues are lost.
Large gaps for smaller companies
According to the release, half a million jobs are affected by succession. Only seven percent had an open succession, while the figure for small companies was over 13 percent. Larger companies are often managed with a longer-term plan than micro-enterprises, which is why succession is also addressed earlier, Bisnode writes in explanation.
IT sector slightly below average
Companies in the IT sector are slightly below the average for all sectors when it comes to succession issues, the figures show. In the IT services sector, 9.2 percent of companies and 8.5 percent in the telecommunications sector have no succession plan.
The two areas of business services, which Bisnode does not describe in detail, and recruitment services each account for around twelve percent.
Management buy-out lasts over three years
One of the most common types of company transfer in Switzerland is still within the family: in 41 percent of cases, the company is sold to a family member (FBO). Management buy-in (MBI), i.e. sale to a new, external management team, is almost as common (40 percent). In Switzerland, 19 percent of companies are bought by the existing management (management buy-out, MBO).
According to Bisnode, it takes more than six years to complete an FBO and 3.3 years for a management buyout. The fastest way is to sell the company to an external owner. An MBI takes only 1.6 years on average.
Bisnode's B2C and B2B databases, which contain all companies entered in the Swiss commercial register, served as the basis for the study. All active companies formed the basis; a company has - for the purpose of the study - an open succession plan if the owners (sole proprietors) registered in the commercial register or the shareholders (companies) or board members (stock corporations) are 60 or more years old. The age limit was chosen because a handover to the next generation would take five years. (mm)
