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Growth and Innovation – Who Pays the Bill?
Insights into succession situations and corporate financing
In mid-February, BayBG and the family business network ALPHAZIRKEL brought together a distinguished group of entrepreneurs, investors and representatives from the financial sector. The topic of the evening: “Growth and Innovation – Who Pays the Bill?”
Family-owned businesses require capital to enter new markets, expand internationally or invest in innovation. But where does this capital come from? Minority shareholdings, partnerships with external equity investors or mezzanine solutions offer differentiated ways to enable growth while safeguarding entrepreneurial continuity.
Moderated by Dr. Albert M. Geiger, Managing Partner of Alphazirkel, entrepreneurs, investment professionals and financial experts shared their experiences with both successful and less successful financing structures.
PANEL 1: Financing Growth Without Giving Up Independence
Together with Dr. Geiger, the panel discussion included:
Chris Boehm-Tettelbach (Gründer und Geschäftsführer | Surftown GmbH)
Christian Fritsch (Founder & Managing Partner | ELF Capital Group)
Katharina Vogt (Leiterin der Region Bayern Süd-Ost Corporates | UniCreditBank GmbH)
Dr. Heike Wenzel (Geschäftsführende Gesellschafterin | WENZEL Group GmbH & Co. KG)
The participating entrepreneurs provided valuable insights and openly shared their experiences – both positive and challenging. The discussion highlighted how different expectations within the shareholder group can be – and how crucial it is to design financing models that reflect and balance these interests.
PANEL 2: Managing Transformation When Ownership Structures Change
Andreas Gebhardt (Geschäftsführender Gesellschafter | SMAIIA GmbH)
Philipp Haindl (Co-Founder | Sevest & Serafin Unternehmensgruppe)
Dr. Hans Liebler (Geschäftsführer | Lenbach Capital GmbH)
Peter Pauli (Sprecher der Geschäftsführung | BayBG)
What truly differentiates private equity investors, strategic investors and entrepreneurial investors – and how can companies identify the right partner? The panelists, many of whom are entrepreneurs themselves, discussed their decision-making processes and the varying interests within shareholder structures.
It became clear: private equity investors, strategic partners and traditional bank financing each follow their own logic. No solution is inherently better or worse – what matters is alignment with the company’s strategy, governance structure and the time horizon of the owning family.
Conclusion
Growth and innovation require capital. Yet there are many ways to structure that capital. Partnerships built on mutual trust, clearly defined roles and a shared understanding of objectives and pace are key success factors.
The event demonstrated how constructively and openly family shareholders, financiers and investors engage in dialogue today – and how diverse the options are for financing sustainable entrepreneurial growth.
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