Business succession planning and opening up capital

Business succession decides who will run the company and who will own it: two questions that do not always have the same answer. Alma Next helps the family compare concrete scenarios, from continuity within the family to bringing in a partner or selling, and then sees the chosen route through to the end.

The options available

At a glance

What we do

Scenario comparison, valuation, deal structuring, partner search, ongoing support

Who for

Business-owning families, shareholders and directors who have to decide the future of the company

Where

From Monaco, for businesses in Italy, France and the Principality

Timing

Prepared years ahead and executed in months: it is the decision that least tolerates haste

Confidentiality

No name is shared without your written consent

Where do you stand

The children are there, but not all of them

One works in the business, another has chosen a different path, a third would only come in as a shareholder. The real issue is not the value of the shares: it is separating who runs the company from who owns it, and putting it in writing before the question lands on the table as an inheritance.

No one in the family is taking over

Nobody wants to, or can, run the business after you. Three real routes remain: hand it to outside management while keeping ownership, let it grow within a group, or sell. They should be compared with the same figures in front of you, not one at a time.

The family stays, but capital is needed

The handover is under way and the incoming generation has a more ambitious plan than the cash allows. Opening the capital to an industrial or financial partner funds the step change and, where needed, buys out those who are leaving without draining the business.

How we work with a family

Five phases. The first two feel the slowest and are the ones that prevent costly mistakes: a succession almost always breaks down over something nobody had said out loud.

Listening, one by one

We speak separately with everyone who has a stake in the story: the person running the business, those who work in it, those who hold shares and never set foot in it. What people say one to one is not what they say around the table, and the plan has to hold up against the former.

What it is worth, and what is needed

Two numbers, not one: the value of the business and the needs of the family, meaning what the transaction must deliver to buy out those leaving and secure those staying. When the two do not meet, that is where the creative arrangements best avoided are born.

Comparing the scenarios

We lay out the possible routes against the same criteria: what changes for the leadership of the business, for the family’s wealth, for the people who work there and for the timing. The choice remains yours, but it stops being a choice made in the dark.

Structuring and finding the counterparty

Once the scenario is settled, the transaction is built: scope, timing, terms, governance afterwards. If a partner or buyer is needed, we search for and vet them ourselves, on a no-names basis until you decide who enters the process.

The first year after

Signing closes nothing. Roles still need to settle, delegation has to move for real, long-standing customers need reassurance and key people need to be retained. This is the phase where a successful succession differs from one that was merely announced.

The options available

There is no single right answer: there is the one that holds up against the expectations of those staying and those leaving. These are the five routes we see most often, and almost no family comes to us having compared them all.

Route	What it involves	When it makes sense
Family continuity	Leadership passes to someone already inside and ownership is rearranged between branches of the family	When there is someone willing and able, and the family accepts the difference between role and shareholding
Outside management, family ownership	A non-family chief executive or general manager comes in, the family remains the shareholder	When the owners want to stay but nobody in the family wants to manage
Opening up the capital	An industrial or financial partner takes a stake, often a minority one, under written rules	When capital and skills are needed for a step change the business cannot make alone
Outright sale	The business passes to a group or an investor, usually with a transition period	When there is no continuity and the value is at the best level it will reach
Buying out departing branches	Those staying buy the shares of those leaving, with their own funds or with debt	When the disagreement is between the shareholders, not about the future of the business

The legal and tax instruments that give shape to these routes, from the Italian family pact to a holding company that pools the shares, are put in place by notaries and your advisers. Our work comes first and runs alongside: understanding what you really want to achieve, what the business is worth and who the right counterparty might be. The valuation method is the same one we use in a sale.

Frequently asked questions

When should succession planning start?

Much earlier than most owners think. The choices that matter, separating leadership from ownership, making the business less dependent on one person, developing whoever takes over, need years to take effect. Those who start once the question is already open choose between fewer options, and usually the less favourable ones.

What is the difference between succession and selling the business?

A sale is one possible outcome of succession, not its opposite. Succession is the question: who will run and who will own the business for the next twenty years. If the answer is not within the family, a sale is considered, but starting from the family’s objectives rather than from the transaction.

Should we set up a family holding company?

Sometimes it helps, sometimes it complicates things. A holding company that pools the shares can simplify governance and keep ownership together, but it does not resolve a disagreement between shareholders: it formalises it. It is worth considering once the strategy is clear, with notaries and tax advisers, not before deciding what you want to happen to the business.

What is an Italian family pact (patto di famiglia)?

It is the instrument provided by the Italian civil code to transfer a business or shares to one or more descendants, with the other heirs agreeing in advance, so that the matter is not reopened on succession. It is executed before a notary and whether it suits you is assessed with your lawyers and accountants: we work on the plan that the pact is meant to serve.

And if the children disagree?

That is the most common case, and not something to leave until the last minute. Usually the disagreement is not about value but about role: who decides, who works in the business and who lives off it as a shareholder. It is handled by separating the two and setting out from the start how one branch can exit, on what terms and over what period.

Can we sell only part of the business?

Yes, and it is an often underrated route. Selling a minority or majority stake while staying in the capital lets you realise part of a lifetime’s work, bring in skills and capital, and test in practice whether the new partner is the right one before deciding on the rest. Exit terms are written on the way in, never afterwards.

What is the family business worth?

Less than sentiment says and more than the balance sheet says, almost always. Value is built by cross-checking several methods and it changes with the counterparty: an industrial group seeking synergies and a financial investor do not read the same business in the same way. The method is described on the page on business valuation.