Succession, acquisition and family governance

Passing on a business, acquiring one, or enabling a family and a management team to work side by side: these are moments when the quality of decisions matters more than ever, and when it is hardest to sustain. This topic brings together Exelvys’s analysis of succession, acquisition and family governance, approached as questions of decision-making before they are questions of law or tax.

It deals with preparing a handover, the role of the outgoing chief executive, the relationship between family shareholders and operational management, and the blind spots that prove expensive when they are discovered too late. The central issue is slowness: a succession that is delayed, a governance that does not decide, an acquisition that stalls all produce costs that are rarely budgeted for and yet entirely real.

The articles are written for leaders of owner-managed and mid-sized businesses who are preparing a step of this kind, and who wish to distinguish legitimate emotion from a decision that has to be taken. The objective is the same as for the rest of the firm’s work: to help a leadership team see earlier, decide more clearly and pay less for lost time.