1 C-TEMAlp is cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg Alpine Space programme

AlpCafé first round DT3.2.1 AlpCafè Report (first round)

AlpCafé organised by Italienische Handelskammer München-Stuttgart in cooperation with Industrie und Handelskammer für München und Oberbayern

please write here September 15th

2016, Munich

REPORT

Methodology ............................................................................................................................... 1

Participants and their roles ........................................................................................................ 3

Main topics emerged from the discussion .................................................................................. 4

List of signature.......................................................................................................................... 7

Methodology

Please describe shortly how/methodology you organised the AlpCafé The following questions could help you in the description: Have you organised preliminary meetings? Have you sent participants preliminary information? Is the event an “ad hoc” event or you organised in conjunction with other events (i.e. panels)? With which criteria did you organise the tables? Who were the facilitators?

- The format is called AlpCafé because it is based on the World Café experience, an interactive methodology for

engaging people in conversations that matter and gather their view on specific topics. The aim of the event was to discover the local business transfer ecosystem and to collect information of services offered by local stakeholders.

2 C-TEMAlp is cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg Alpine Space programme

- Several preliminary meetings (Italienische Handelskammer und IHK für München und Oberbayern) needed to decide which topics are more in line with the chosen focus (Status quo of the current services on the topic business transfer in Bavaria, Swiss and Austria) and who has to be invited.

- Institutions and key stakeholders active in the field selected and invited to participate (BusinessIncubators,

intermediaries, , services providers, banks, credit institutions, technical consultans, representatives of public administrations, national and local chambers of craft and small business, local chamber of commerce and industry, regional chamber of commerce)

- After identifying the target group, we have sent them information about the event and event goals via e-mail, after

that we contacted them and explain them in detail the purpose, objectives and scenario of the 1st AlpCafe.

- The event was organised in the afternoon while in the morning the Expert Panel took place.

- The event was divided on two parts. The first one was dedicated to presentation of CTEMAlp project and presentation

of activities in selected EU countries (we invited also representative from Swiss and Tirol (Austria)) as well as presentation of participants, their experience and expectation concerning the topic of transfer of businesses.

- The story of Alessandro Serafini, General Manager of the Italian company C.A.P.T. was choosen as example of a transantional business transfer. C.A.P.T. Srl is an Italian family business funded in 1972 who changed his vision during the transition from first to second generation. Alessandro´s father has a one man business vision and one business vision, while the son started to set up clear rules and to have a more business vision. He started to do high investment in process automatization in order to fulfil growing sales and worldwide demand. It was a change from a family model business to an international business organization, market-customers oriented. In 2013 it started a strategic partnership with the german company Maschinenfabrik Reinhausen, a world market leader in transformer switching. MR acquired 49% of Capt´s share and permitted the development of C.A.P.T. on an international market. We wants to show the testimonies of entrepreneurs who successfully implemented the BT process in order to understand the obstacles in the praxis.

- In the second part we have organized three parallel round tables on following topics:

o Problems within the Business Transfer Process o Tutoring and services o Innovation and business transfer

- 3 facilitators in charge of the discussion animation of each topic. The facilitators were Hannes Aurbach (IHK), Markus

Neuner (IHK) and Martina Agosti (Italcam).

- Everybody was free to intervene and to debate its own experience. The facilitator ruled the discussion and made sure that each participant brings his contribution to the table. 4 or 5 questions around one of the three topics for each table had to be answered from each participant. We prepared colourful papers to make the result to be clear.

- At the end of the discussions each facilitator presented the results of each table and brought them into a general discussion.

- 38 people participated at the event AlpCafè 1

3 C-TEMAlp is cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg Alpine Space programme

Participants and their roles

Please describe shortly who attended this AlpCafé and the roles played in your region/area The name of the organisation and two lines describing the competence is enough.

ORGANISATION

ROLE

Italienische Handelskammer München-Stuttgart

Italcam is a no-profit association of private German law, recognized by the Italian Government and a member of Assocamereestero, the apex body of over 75 Italian Chambers abroad. It plays an active role in organizing business meetings, international trade fairs, seminars, conferences and round tables to promote knowledge sharing between the two countries. It also coordinates and manages business and institutional delegations, to stimulate the Italian and German markets. Italcam can efficiently contribute to the implementation of the project thanks to its transnational nature (between Germany and Italy) and it is seen by many Italian and German enterprises as a essential reference for their trade affairs. www.italcam.de

IHK München und Oberbayern The Bavarian Chambers of Commerce and Industry provides

individual service and support to companies in the following six business segments:

Location policy

Start-up assistance and corporate promotion

Innovation and environment

Law and fair play

International

Further education and training

www.ihk-muenchen.de

K.E.R.N. Die Nachfolgespezialisten

Specialists for business succession, business sales, generation change and business acquisition. www.die-nachfolgespezialisten.eu

HTW Chur

The University of Applied Sciences HTW Chur is a regionally-based university with national and international appeal. The study courses offered include Bachelor, Master and further education courses in civil engineering/architecture, information science, business administration, multimedia production, system technology and tourism. www.htwchur.ch

omegaconsulting

Is a competent consultant for all aspects of company succession. www.omegaconsulting.de

Renoxa UG Is a competent consultant for all aspects of company succession and

business start-up

SATELL focuses on rendering legal and tax advice to small and

4 C-TEMAlp is cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg Alpine Space programme

Kanzlei SATELL medium-sized enterprises, as well as national and international investors. We advise primarily in the areas of real estate law, the law concerning renewable energies, financings, as well as capital market and corporate law. Our activities are supported by our notary's office in Berlin. www.satell.de

Wirtschaftskammer Tirol

The Austrian Economic Chambers represent more than 450,000 member companies. As the voice of Austrian business, we are committed to forward-looking policies which benefit the economy e.g. tax relief, cutting red tape, subsidies. www.wko.at

Kanzlei Wächter.Kuss.Springer

WKS Wächter . Kuss . Springer is a boutique law firm which specializes in corporate law. It focuses on fields of expertise: Transactions, Venture Capital, and Corporate Litigation. It also advises small and medium-sized enterprises on matters of Commercial Law. www.wks-partners.com

CBA Studio Legale e Tributario

CBA Studio Legale e Tributario was formed following the merger between Camozzi Bonissoni Varrenti & Associati and Studio Associato LCA – Avvocati e Commercialisti d’Impresa, two important firms boasting consolidated experience in the provision of consulting services to both Italian and foreign companies investing and operating in Italy.. They offer solutions that are tailor made to satisfy the demands of an increasingly complex market in search of integrated, flexible services. CBA consolidates the international identity of the founding firms, relying on close-knit relations with a wide range of foreign firms and international networks while retaining its independence as an Italian firm. www.cbalex.com

Handwerkskammer für München und Oberbayern

The Chamber of Crafts provides a joint and solid representation of the concerns of all craftsmen in politics and the public. The Chamber of Crafts offers a tailor-made consulting service for its members in a practical and professional manner. The range of services covers all areas of day-to-day operations. www.hwk-muenchen.de

Phiner AG

They are specialized in business succession, business sales, generation change and business acquisition. www.phiner.de

Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Bayerischen Handwerkskammern

The consultation subjects are: judgement and market relations, investment plan and finance plan, public financing facilities, capital service calculation, choice of the legal form, sales preview and profit preview, calculation and expense account, legal questions and insurance questions, registration formalities and company mediation www.hwk-bayern.de

Wirtschaftsförderung Bad Tölz

Promotion and Business Development Department Bad Tölz

Landeshauptstadt München

Munich Municipality

Wirtschaftsförderer Miesbach

Promotion and Business Development Department Miesbach

5 C-TEMAlp is cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg Alpine Space programme

Bayerisches Wirtschaftsministerium

The Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Media, Energy and Technology focuses on maintaining Bavaria’s competitive edge as a business location, strengthening Bavaria’s economic performance, supporting startup and creating attractive employment opportunities. We are guided by the social market economic model, an economic system of freedom, social justice, and the future. www.stmwi.bayern.de

Südtiroler Sparkasse

The Saving Bank of the Province of Bolzano / South Tyrol (German: Südtiroler Sparkasse A.G., Italian: Cassa di Risparmio di Bolzano S.p.A.) is an Italian regional bank based in Bolzano, the capital of South Tyrol autonomous region. www.suedspa.de

KMU Next

KMU Next promotes transparency, professionalism, honesty and fairness in the successor market.

Focusses on the strategic topic of corporate succession in Switzerland

Supports sellers and buyers to orient themselves in the succession process

Is in the service of the transparency of the successor market

Endeavors to provide SME-optimal conditions at its own discretion

www.kmunext.ch

Maschinenfabrik Reinhausen

The MR Maschinenfabrik Reinhausen GmbH is a company that has positioned itself in the production of load tap for power transformers as a world leader. The headquarters is located in Regensburg Reinhausen district. www.reinhausen.com

Sparkasse Rosenheim-Bad Aibling

The savings bank of Rosenheim and Bad aibling is a financial institution whose primary purpose is accepting savings deposits and paying interest on those deposits www.spk-ro-aib.de

Main topics emerged from the discussion Please sum up the main topics emerged from the table discussion Please try to clearly report the issues emerged, taking into account the main aims of this AlpCafé session (stakeholders involvement) and the project topic (services for business transfer) Alpcafè, Part 1

Event´s introduction and Presentation of the Project

Business Transfer on a transnational level: best practice Italy-Germany

Experiences Exchange with Swiss and Austria

3 parallel round tables organised in parallel: Problems within the Business Transfer Process, Tutoring and services, Innovation and business transfer.

6 C-TEMAlp is cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg Alpine Space programme

During the second part of the Alp Cafè 1 participants were providing answers to next issues:

a. Definition of business transfer according to regional and national law

b. Obstacles and Opportunities justified in the regional/ national tax and legal Setting

c. Main critical points concerning business transfer. Cultural and psychological factors who can influence of investors or potential buyers

d. Countries and business sectors particularly interesting for regional companies

e. Measures and subsides to support business transfer and development in the field of innovation

f. What specific support services are needed by companies in terms of corporate succession?

a. Everybody agreed that buying an existing company is an alternative way of starting a business. It is often more advantageous than starting from scratch.

The business transfer is the transfer of a future oriented company and is a topical and urgent issue. Full or partial business transfer process takes 4-16 months.

b. Barriers to successful business transfers relate to planning and management. They include:

- awareness-raising for better planning and preparation;

- quality of support and advisory services;

- taxation (especially double taxation of cross-border inheritances).

- risikoaverse behavior of the banks

There are already many services offered by several stakeholders, but often the link between those services is missing.

c. Today companies don´t have enough information on BT because they are not used to see it as part of the business cycle; the participants noted that there are many companies who expressed a need to support them in their process of transfer of company. A lot of them do not have information on how to carry out the business transfer. These companies usually need direct services for specific business transfer aspects: tax, accounting, financial, labor and legal issues. For owners of companies is the business transfer often a psychological / sentimental/ personal problem. It is important to raise the awareness of business transfer, its opportunities, possibilities and procedures.

Participants agreed that different languages and mentalities can play a very important role during the business transfer process. Very often different cultures can be an obstacle because of preconceptions. Many companies understand that internationalization can be a possibility to grow up but they don’t know how they can do it.

The stakeholders noted that the closure of the company is a big problem, because generated funds are spent to cover the costs of employees. Another obstacle is that companies often are not ready to risk. Lack of qualified personal

d. The countries that can be more interesting for Bavarian companies are border countries, particularly german speaking countries (Austria, Swiss and Südtirol). Italy and France are also interesting countries, but the language and the culture could be a problem.

e. Development loans of KFW, LfA and diverse innovation grants. Credits from the banks. Businessplan- idea (for example Beratungsförderung Tirol). Problem for the companies to get to know these possibilities. The support services are on the market but they are not mapped, consultants are specialized in specific fields and Chambers of Commerce and Entrepreneurial Associations provide only the first informative service;

f. The presence of a trusted intermediary could help. He should acting as a mentor who could drive the company along all the process. Companies need a coaching about Business Transfer and its possibilities.

Participated consultants and representatives of Chambers of Craft and Small business expressed an interest to cooperate with other stakeholders at preparing the platform and activities in field of business transfer.

Even if the interactive part was new for many participants, the feedback was good and it allowed an open discussion.

7 C-TEMAlp is cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg Alpine Space programme

8 C-TEMAlp is cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg Alpine Space programme

List of signature

9 C-TEMAlp is cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg Alpine Space programme

10 C-TEMAlp is cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg Alpine Space programme

11 C-TEMAlp is cofinanced by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg Alpine Space programme