Deutsche Unternehmensnachfolge

What Deutsche Unternehmensnachfolge does

Deutsche Unternehmensnachfolge (DEUN) is a privately held operative family investor headquartered in Munich, Germany, that acquires and operates established small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) in the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) on a long-term basis. The firm targets companies with EBITDA of 1–5 million EUR, positive cash flow, strong niche expertise, and demonstrable growth potential across sectors including healthcare, wholesale, trades/Handwerk, software, manufacturing, and education. Its core value proposition is to act as a hands-on successor — stepping into operative leadership — rather than as a passive financial buyer, preserving company culture and providing individually tailored participation structures enabled by its family-investor capital base.

DEUN's current portfolio comprises three operating businesses: Gürkan Schinkenproduktion GmbH (Turkish pastırma and ham specialty foods, founded 1999), KHM (convertible tops, automotive carpets, and leather interiors for classic and modern cars, 40+ year operating history), and IMT International Motivation (educational services and coaching for executives, unemployed persons, and refugees). The firm is led by Managing Directors Constantin-Harvey Gross, David Franke, and Michael Wild, with Partner Harvey Gross handling incoming inquiries, supported by a sub-10-person team. DEUN generates returns through long-term ownership and operative value creation rather than fees or management charges, and distributes primarily via direct B2B outreach, a structured website inquiry form, press features (DUB, IWW), and partner introduction videos. The firm holds GDPR-compliant data handling policies and operates from a Munich headquarters at Am Lilienberg 2.

Name

Deutsche Unternehmensnachfolge

Legal name

Deutsche Unternehmensnachfolge Verwaltungs GmbH

Website

https://de-un.de

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Private Equity / SME Succession Investment

NAICS

Management of Companies and Enterprises (551)

akta.pro primary industry

Family/Founder Succession Buyout (FSANABAK)

Keywords

• Business succession services
• SME succession solutions
• Family investment firm
• Operative succession
• Company buy-and-build

Headquarters

HQ city

München

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Investment Returns: Returns generated through long-term ownership and value creation in portfolio companies, with the goal of sustainable growth through operative succession solutions.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Deutsche Unternehmensnachfolge (DEUN) is a Munich-based family investor firm that acquires majority stakes in established SMEs in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, providing operative succession solutions with long-term ownership horizons. The firm targets companies with EBITDA between 1 and 5 million EUR, positive cash flow, and growth potential across sectors including healthcare, wholesale, trades/handwerk, software, manufacturing, and education, taking over active operational leadership rather than acting as a passive financial investor.

Product overview

Deutsche Unternehmensnachfolge operates as a family investor firm providing long-term succession solutions for established SMEs in German-speaking markets (Germany, Austria, Switzerland). The core offering consists of operative succession services and majority equity participations in portfolio companies. The portfolio includes three distinct businesses: Gürkan (a Turkish food company producing pastirma and ham specialties), KHM (an automotive specialist manufacturing convertible tops and leather interiors for classic cars), and IMT (an educational services provider offering training and coaching programs). The company targets businesses with EBITDA of 1-5 million EUR, positive cash flow, established market positions, and growth potential across sectors including healthcare, wholesale, crafts, software, manufacturing, and education.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Operative Succession Solutions (Nachfolgelösungen) Long-term, operative succession solutions for SME owners in the DACH region, providing immediate leadership transition by an experienced complementary team with demonstrated value creation competence. Targets companies with EBITDA between 1-5 million EUR, established market position, niche expertise, and growth potential.
• Buy & Build Investments Buy & Build investment support for portfolio companies, enabling expansion through add-on acquisitions as part of a long-term, family-backed investment approach.
• Growth Capital Investments Long-term growth capital investments in established SMEs with positive cash flow and significant growth potential, focused on sustainable value creation in niche markets.
• Carve-out Transactions Acquisition and operative management of corporate carve-outs in the DACH region, enabling parent companies to divest non-core business units to a long-term family investor.

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• HANIEL: HANIEL is a German family-owned diversified holding company with a centuries-long track record of acquiring and operating businesses long-term—an exemplar of the family-investor model DEUN explicitly emulates, though at substantially larger scale.
• Paragon Partners: Paragon Partners is a Munich-based mid-market PE firm investing in succession and growth situations across DACH—directly comparable to DEUN in geography, deal size profile, and Mittelstand orientation.
• Mutares: Mutares is a Munich-listed private equity firm specializing in carve-outs and succession situations in the DACH mid-market, with an explicitly operative approach—closely mirroring DEUN's combination of succession focus, operative competence, and regional concentration.
• VR Equitypartner: VR Equitypartner is a German PE firm owned by the cooperative banking group that explicitly targets succession solutions and MBOs in the DACH Mittelstand—a direct competitor for the same 1-5M EUR EBITDA deal band that DEUN pursues.
• Tengelmann Group: Tengelmann is one of Germany's largest family-owned conglomerates (Haas family), historically investing long-term in operating businesses and SMEs—sharing DEUN's family-investor DNA, long holding periods, and commitment to company culture preservation.
• Aurelius Group: Aurelius is a European mid-market investor with significant DACH activity in succession and carve-out transactions, sharing DEUN's operative orientation and small-to-mid-cap focus while operating at materially larger scale.
• Aton Holding: Aton is a Munich-based, family-led industrial holding taking majority stakes in mid-market industrial and consumer companies with a long-term orientation—a near-direct analogue to DEUN's family-investor succession model in the same DACH geography.

Broad incumbents

• Deutsche Beteiligungs AG: DBAG is the longest-established German PE firm focused on mid-market MBOs and succession deals. It is a broad incumbent with institutional fund backing, competing against DEUN for the same SME succession mandates but with far greater scale and brand recognition.
• Capvis Equity Partners: Capvis is a leading Swiss mid-market PE firm with a strong DACH succession and buyout franchise, often competing for the same entrepreneurial sellers DEUN targets but with institutional scale and a multi-fund track record.

Others

• CFH (Corporate Finance Hannover): CFH is a German M&A advisory firm specializing in SME succession transactions, operating as a sell-side intermediary in the same Mittelstand succession market DEUN addresses—relevant as an ecosystem counterpart rather than a direct buyer competitor.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/DeutscheUntern1

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Deutsche Unternehmensnachfolge