Entrepreneurs and Enterprises

Mid-market entrepreneurs and enterprises benefit from our deep understanding of the issues and challenges of the “Mittelstand“. We render our professional support to companies that need financing in order to fund their growth strategy, that need to meet challenges on the debt part of their balance sheet or that have no successors.


For example, we advised the family shareholders of a German “Mittelstand” machinery company in the sale of their company to an Italian supplier of machine tools. The company, a leading manufacturer of special purposes machinery for the automotive industry, did not have a successor within the shareholder family. At the same time the company wanted to take advantage of the opportunity that the globalization in the automotive industry presented while preserving the “Mittelstand”-oriented philosophy of this family-founded and -run company. The acquiror was a leading Italian supplier to the automotive industry, was family-run and –owned, and wanted to expand its position in Germany as the most important European automotive market.

We support German and multinational companies envisioning all kinds of modifications of their business portfolios in Germany and surrounding countries, such as e.g. acquisitions for a market entry or an external growth strategy for one of their business fields, divestitures of subsidiaries, a sale of a factory or other assets which do not form part of their core business.


For example, a foreign, publicly listed company wanted to expand its activities in Germany by means of acquisitions. Originally, the company tried an internal approach – having the management of their German subsidiary contact the target companies. As this internal approach, however, had proven without success for many years, the board of the holding company mandated us to set up a structured process. As a first step, we expanded the list of suitable target companies by means of a market screening and then reduced the list again to a short list, together with our client. In a second step, we contacted the short list candidates on an anonymous basis, in order to find out the principal readiness to talk while still protecting our client‘s identity. After first meetings we sent out concrete but still non-binding offers to two of the potential target companies and finally concluded a purchase agreement with one of the two companies upon completion of due diligence. Through the acquisition of the target company, our client was able to strengthen its market position in Germany.

We support companies headquartered in Germany or German- speaking countries that are looking for growth capital in order to implement their national and/or international expansion strategies.

For example, a globally successful b2b service provider, headquartered in Germany, had developed a strategy for boosting its international growth. After proof of concept in a European foreign market, financed with internal funds, the company now was looking for additional growth capital for the roll-out of this highly efficient growth strategy. In a structured process ANSER screened the market and developed and evaluated different financing alternatives for the board of the holding company. With a structured financing solution, custom-tailored to the situation of the company and the interests of the company‘s shareholders, we were able to successfully lay the foundation for the group’s growth for the coming years.

ANSER offers its long-standing contacts, advice from many years of experience and professional support concerning M&A and corporate finance issues also to private equity funds both in Germany and in neighbouring countries that are looking for new investments, that want to follow a buy-and-build strategy or that want to exit their investments.


For example, we identified a private equity fund as the ideal buyer for a company active in the equipment manufacturing industry, with a well-thought-out marketing concept. We analyzed the target and presented the opportunity to the private equity fund. With the mandate of the private equity fund, we then contacted the target’s shareholders to determine their interest to sell, firstly on an anonymous basis. We prepared the negotiations, valued the company and advised on structuring the transaction and reaching compromises. The transaction was completed in less than six months from the initial contact.