Overview

• A Creditreform study reveals that 145,000 of Germany's 373,400 mid-sized businesses are ready for leadership handover due to aging owners.
• The service sector is the most affected, with 53,000 companies needing successors, followed by trade (37,000) and manufacturing (27,500).
• Key challenges include late planning, a lack of qualified successors, and younger generations hesitant to take on entrepreneurial risks.
• Experts warn that without successors, some businesses may shut down, with 10% of surveyed companies preparing for potential closure.
• Initiatives like state-supported platforms and university programs aim to address the succession gap and support new leaders.