Am I still the right owner?

Dusseldorf Digitization, corona pandemic, energy price explosion, war: German family businesses currently have to manage many crises at the same time. The survival of entire business models is put to the test. Matthias Zachert, head of the chemical company Lanxess, has already warned of the country’s deindustrialization.

And an end to the external shocks does not seem to be in sight. Quite a few entrepreneurs report behind closed doors that they are asking themselves whether they are still the right owners. They don’t like to talk about it in public. But they call Madeleine Jahr, managing director at US investment bank Houlihan Lokey. She has been advising well-known family businesses on sales for 15 years.

The medium-sized companies were looking for “sparring partners who keep a secret eye on the figures,” reports Jahr. “Often it is not yet certain how this will develop.”