From what size does a dedicated M&A infrastructure make sense?

From a planned investment volume of EUR 10-20m per year or a portfolio of 3+ direct participations, building standardised processes pays off - either internally or through an external M&A partner.

What distinguishes family office M&A from PE M&A?

Longer time horizon (no fund life cycle), more flexible structures (no leverage requirement), more personal relationship with management, but often fewer institutional resources for DD and value creation.

What is a buy-and-build strategy?

Acquisition of a platform investment and systematic expansion through add-on acquisitions in the same sector. Goal: scale effects, market share gains and multiple arbitrage between smaller and larger companies.

How do you avoid systematic overpayment?

Through standardised valuation methodology, sector benchmarks, systematic deal sourcing (more options = better prices), independent due diligence and clear walk-away criteria.

Do family offices need a dedicated deal team?

Not necessarily. Many successful family offices work with a small internal core team (1-2 people) and external specialists for DD, valuation and negotiation. The key is continuity of collaboration.

How does co-investment with other family offices work?

Co-investments enable larger transactions with shared risk. Critical: clear governance (lead investor), unified due diligence, aligned exit strategy and clean shareholders' agreement.

Portfolio M&A for Family Offices

Family offices invest directly, but without valuation infrastructure
they regularly overpay.

Family offices are the fastest-growing buyer group in mid-market M&A. But without dedicated transaction infrastructure - deal sourcing, valuation, due diligence, integration - systematic overpayment and portfolio inefficiencies result.

Family-office-proven. Valuation-strong. Long-term oriented.

The Challenge

Why family offices systematically overpay in direct investments

We've identified attractive targets but have no standardised valuation methodology for portfolio comparability.

Our deal sourcing is opportunistic - we react to offers instead of actively searching for the right targets.

We've invested but have no systematic value creation strategy for our portfolio companies.

We want to build a buy-and-build programme but have no experience with serial acquisitions.

Does this sound like your situation?

Let's clarify in a free initial consultation whether and how we can help.

Context

Family office M&A: between direct investment and PE logic

Family offices operate in the M&A market between two worlds: they have the financial means for direct investments but often act without the institutional infrastructure of a PE fund. This leads to typical patterns: opportunistic deal sourcing (instead of systematic screening), missing valuation benchmarks (each deal is considered in isolation), insufficient (because internal resources are lacking) and passive portfolio management (buy-and-hold instead of active value creation). The most successful family offices have recognised these gaps and built professional M&A infrastructure - either internally or through long-term advisory partnerships.

Family offices are generally not subject to BaFin regulation as long as they exclusively manage proprietary assets. For co-investments with third parties or fund structures, AIFM requirements apply. Merger control filing obligations exist above GWB revenue thresholds.

Our Approach

Our approach for family office M&A

Investment strategy and screening

Definition of acquisition criteria: sectors, size, geography, minimum. Building a systematic screening process.

Valuation infrastructure

Establishing standardised valuation methodology: multiple benchmarks, templates and sector comparisons for consistent decisions.

Due diligence and transaction

Complete transaction support: commercial, financial, legal and operational DD. SPA negotiation and closing management.

Value creation and portfolio optimisation

Post-closing support: 100-day plan, operational improvements, buy-and-build strategy and portfolio reporting.

What You Receive

Investment strategy and screening criteria
Standardised valuation methodology and benchmarks
Complete transaction support (DD to closing)
Value creation plan and portfolio reporting

Results & Evidence

Typical results of our family office advisory

10-20%

Valuation correction vs. initial offer

3-5x

Deal flow increase through active sourcing

2-4 yrs

Value creation horizon

100%

Standardised valuation methodology

Results depend on investment strategy, sector and portfolio size.

What happens if you do nothing?

What does missing M&A infrastructure cost?

Systematic overpayment: Without benchmarks, family offices pay on average 10-20% above market price.
Opportunity cost: Purely opportunistic sourcing misses 80% of relevant targets in the market.
Portfolio inefficiency: Without active value creation, participations stagnate and generate no excess returns.
Exit weakness: Participations without documented value creation achieve 15-25% lower multiples at exit.

Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently asked questions about portfolio M&A for family offices

Further M&A topics

Build M&A infrastructure for your family office.

We establish standardised valuation, sourcing and DD processes - so every investment stands on a solid foundation.

Family offices invest directly, but without valuation infrastructure
they regularly overpay.

Why family offices systematically overpay in direct investments

Does this sound like your situation?

Family office M&A: between direct investment and PE logic

Our approach for family office M&A

Investment strategy and screening

Valuation infrastructure

Due diligence and transaction

Value creation and portfolio optimisation

Typical results of our family office advisory

What does missing M&A infrastructure cost?

Frequently asked questions about portfolio M&A for family offices

Further M&A topics

Valuation Methods

Due Diligence Process

Post-Merger Integration

Build M&A infrastructure for your family office.

Sondieren Sie ein Mandat in einem strukturierten Gespräch.

Cookie Settings

Family offices invest directly, but without valuation infrastructurethey regularly overpay.

Why family offices systematically overpay in direct investments

Does this sound like your situation?

Family office M&A: between direct investment and PE logic

Our approach for family office M&A

Investment strategy and screening

Valuation infrastructure

Due diligence and transaction

Value creation and portfolio optimisation

Typical results of our family office advisory

What does missing M&A infrastructure cost?

Frequently asked questions about portfolio M&A for family offices

From what size does a dedicated M&A infrastructure make sense?

What distinguishes family office M&A from PE M&A?

What is a buy-and-build strategy?

How do you avoid systematic overpayment?

Do family offices need a dedicated deal team?

How does co-investment with other family offices work?

Further M&A topics

Valuation Methods

Due Diligence Process

Post-Merger Integration

Build M&A infrastructure for your family office.

Sondieren Sie ein Mandat in einem strukturierten Gespräch.

Cookie Settings

Family offices invest directly, but without valuation infrastructure
they regularly overpay.