Family firms are of particular importance for many economies. We know little about family firm buyouts and how they are different from non-family firm buyouts. Oliver Ahlers investigates this under-researched topic. After a comprehensive literature review on family firm buyouts, the focus of his book is on the key steps of the investment process such as family firm valuation and negotiations between PE investors and family sellers. Additionally, it is investigated how “soft factors” such as trust, reputation or commitment could play an important role when PE and family firms interact. Throughout the book, differences between family and non-family firm buyouts are highlighted.

The European private equity market (management buy-outs and buy-ins) has grown in prominence over recent years with CMBOR figures showing the numbers of deals conducted rising from 1212 in 1998 to 1436 by the end of 2007. One of the most important features of this market has been the growth in buy-outs of family/private firms from 451 in 1998 to 559 in the past ten years with the combined value of these deals rising from €11.2 billion to €18.3 billion during the same period. This report aims to provide a detailed insight into the issues surrounding buy-outs of family firms using the unique data from the CMBOR database of over 26,000 European buy-outs in addition to three other detailed studies of the family buy-out market.The first section of this report is based on data from the CMBOR database and gives a detailed breakdown of aggregate market statistics for family buy-out in Europe. This includes data such as the value and volume of buy-outs, employee data, deal pricing and structuring data, industry sector analysis as well as the exiting of family firms.Section 2 looks at the problems faced by family firms when dealing with succession. In this part of the report issues covered include those surrounding the way that information flows between vendor and acquirer impact the transaction process and the level of planning undertaken by family owners with regard to succession.In the third part the emphasis is on strategic issues surrounding family firm buy-outs. We examine whether there are distinct differences in the strategy of family businesses post buy-out and relate these to the ownership and governance of the firm pre buy-out.The final part analyses the changes in managerial style which can occur after a family firm has undergone a buy-out. We examine whether there is a move away from the more family orientated stewardship form of management to an approach characterized by more formal governance with mechanisms of planning and control.

Private equity minority investments have become an increasingly attractive financing alternative for family firms. However, admitting a private equity investor as a minority shareholder seems to contradict with the objective of the owner family to preserve their continuous and unlimited influence on the businesses since they must at least partially cede control over the firm to the private equity investor. Therefore, the purpose of this book is to identify the primary decision drivers for family firm entrepreneurs in seeking private equity financing despite the therein related partial loss of control. By giving special consideration to the potential cooperation mechanisms between the shareholders, this book goes beyond the scope of previous studies. Cooperation is thereby considered as a prerequisite for the success of minority investments because due to its minority position, the private equity investor is not able to implement its value creation strategy against the will of the family firm entrepreneur.

English summary: There is only limited academic attention paid to the topic of Private Equity Investments in Family Businesses although the topic is becoming increasingly relevant for both entity types. In order to advance the field, this study focuses on the organizational metamorphosis of Family Businesses as a response to a Private Equity investment. In specific, changes in performance and its potential determinants were researched by means of eight case studies. The results indicate a neutral to beneficial performance development when Private Equity companies acquired a majority stake and a neutral development in case of a minority investment. Analyses further revealed that the positive performance improvement correlated with an organizational context that nurtured higher levels of individual discipline and stretch as well as organizational values that became aligned with market imperatives. German description: Investitionen von Private-Equity-Firmen in Familienunternehmen werden fur beide Parteien zunehmend relevanter. Um diesem Gebiet Rechnung zu tragen, wurde die Veranderung der wirtschaftlichen Leistungsfahigkeit von Familienunternehmen im Zuge einer Private Equity Investition in acht Fallstudien untersucht. Die Resultate zeigen eine neutrale bis positive Veranderung der Leistungsfahigkeit wenn Private-Equity-Hauser eine Mehrheitsbeteiligung in Familienunternehmen erwerben. Bei Minderheitsbeteiligungen konnte keine weitreichende Veranderung festgestellt werden. Weiterhin zeigen die Ergebnisse, dass die untersuchten Mehrheitsbeteiligungen einen Kontext entwickeln, welcher das individuelle Leistungsverhalten des Managements zu einem hoheren Masse fordert. Dies beruht vor allem darauf, dass sich jene Firmen zunehmend Umwelt- und Marktbedingungen offnen und neue Operationsweisen adaptieren.

We study the reluctance of family firms to accept private equity (PE) investors and the impact of PE on family firm's performance. We analyze the productivity growth in a sample of 257 PE-backed family firms, 143 of which were run by the founding generation. We compare these firms with both non-PE-backed family firms and non-family PE-backed firms. We find that family firms accessing PE show lower productivity growth before the initial PE round, which is driven by an imbalance between inputs and output, especially in founder-controlled firms. Our results also confirm the positive impact of PE involvement on productivity growth in founder-controlled firms.

The strategic concepts and tools illustrated in this book provide a framework for devising and implementing strategies favouring longevity of family-controlled business entities. The authors illustrate their arguments with examples drawn from their direct knowledge of representative Italian and European family firms.