Money makes the world go round, or does it? An exploration of the decisions of first-generation owner-managers of German Mittelstand firms to seek a business sale and select a buyer for their businesses

Fechner, Fabian (2024) Money makes the world go round, or does it? An exploration of the decisions of first-generation owner-managers of German Mittelstand firms to seek a business sale and select a buyer for their businesses. PhD thesis, University of Gloucestershire. doi:10.46289/LOQW4211

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Text (Final thesis) 15515 Fechner, Fabian (2024) Money makes the world go round, or does it - An exploration of the decisions of first-generation owner-managers of German Mittelstand firms to seek a business sale and select and buyer....pdf - Accepted Version Available under License All Rights Reserved. Download (4MB) | Preview

Abstract

The German Mittelstand is generally considered to feature a low level of Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) activity. Because of the emblematic long-term orientation of family firm owners, in particular, the sale of a Mittelstand firm should be the exception not the rule. However, a relatively high and possibly growing number of M&A initiatives in the Mittelstand has been evident during the last decade (Köhler, 2022). There is a surprising gap in the literature regarding the motives of Mittelstand owner-managers to engage in business sales, mergers and acquisitions, their behaviour during the project and their selection of a buyer, acquisition target or merger partner. Mittelstand research still lacks sufficient quantitative and qualitative data, arguably due to the small size of the businesses involved and discretion regarding the process. Accordingly, this research aims to contribute to filling this gap in knowledge with a qualitative study of three firstgeneration core Mittelstand sale projects that resulted in a business exit by the owners. The data collection was derived from in-depth interviews with key actors in each project, being the owner-managers and their advisors and the eventual buyers and their advisors. The data analysis was conducted within a critical realism paradigm and drew on concepts including behavioural agency, socioemotional wealth and mixed gamble theory. The analysis demonstrated that perceived vulnerability was a key factor in the motivation of the owner-managers to engage in M&A activity and subsequently to sell their business. Furthermore, for the selection of a buyer financial utility was essential. It is concluded that seller’s perceived utility required a satisfaction of financial goals before non-financial goals: ‘money and heart together’, but money coming first. Based on this it is argued that a pathdependent institutional change may have taken place that requires an update of the Varieties of Capitalism theory.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HF Commerce > HF5001 Business
Divisions:	Schools and Research Institutes > School of Business, Computing and Social Sciences
Depositing User:	Anna Kerr
Date Deposited:	07 Nov 2025 11:29
Last Modified:	07 Nov 2025 11:29
URI:	https://eprints.glos.ac.uk/id/eprint/15515

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