IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jbecon/v88y2018i3d10.1007_s11573-017-0870-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

On private equity exits of family firms in the German Mittelstand

Author

Listed:
  • Florian Kreer

    (RWTH Aachen University)

  • René Mauer

    (ESCP Europe)

  • Steffen Strese

    (RWTH Aachen University)

  • Malte Brettel

    (RWTH Aachen University)

Abstract

There is limited existing research on factors influencing the preferences of family firms’ owner-managers for specific modes of external transitions of ownership such as private equity. In a multi-method approach, this study qualitatively gathers the attitudinal beliefs of family firms’ owner-managers about pursuing the private equity succession route. Four classes of beliefs are identified: perceptions of (1) firm continuance; (2) opportunities for firm development; (3) loss of firm ethos; and (4) commercial firm risks. These classes are then tested quantitatively with a sample of 195 family firm owner-managers among the German Mittelstand. Our results partially confirm the qualitative findings: the perception of positive development opportunities and the perception of commercial firm risks explain owner-managers’ intention to pursue a private equity succession, mediated through attitude. Overall, attitude emerges as the cornerstone in this context-specific intention model.

Suggested Citation

  • Florian Kreer & René Mauer & Steffen Strese & Malte Brettel, 2018. "On private equity exits of family firms in the German Mittelstand," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 88(3), pages 503-529, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jbecon:v:88:y:2018:i:3:d:10.1007_s11573-017-0870-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s11573-017-0870-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11573-017-0870-8
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11573-017-0870-8?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Carr, Jon C. & Sequeira, Jennifer M., 2007. "Prior family business exposure as intergenerational influence and entrepreneurial intent: A Theory of Planned Behavior approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 60(10), pages 1090-1098, October.
    2. David E. Terpstra & Philip D. Olson, 1993. "Entrepreneurial Start-up and Growth: A Classification of Problems," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 17(3), pages 5-20, April.
    3. Nancy Upton & William Petty, 2000. "Venture capital investment and US family business," Venture Capital, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 2(1), pages 27-39, January.
    4. Michael C. Jensen, 2010. "The Modern Industrial Revolution, Exit, and the Failure of Internal Control Systems," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 22(1), pages 43-58, January.
    5. Michael Lubatkin & William S. Schulze & N Dino Richard, 2003. "Exploring the agency consequences of ownership dispersion among the directors of private family firms," Post-Print hal-02311676, HAL.
    6. Achleitner, Ann-Kristin & Schraml, Stephanie & Tappeiner, Florian, 2008. "Private equity minority investments in large family firms: what influences the attitude of family firm owners?," CEFS Working Paper Series 2008-12, Technische Universität München (TUM), Center for Entrepreneurial and Financial Studies (CEFS).
    7. Edmund R. Thompson, 2009. "Individual Entrepreneurial Intent: Construct Clarification and Development of an Internationally Reliable Metric," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 33(3), pages 669-694, May.
    8. Carlo Salvato & Francesco Chirico & Pramodita Sharma, 2010. "A farewell to the business: Championing exit and continuity in entrepreneurial family firms," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(3-4), pages 321-348, May.
    9. Lichtenberg, Frank R. & Siegel, Donald, 1990. "The effects of leveraged buyouts on productivity and related aspects of firm behavior," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 165-194, September.
    10. Jennifer Sequeira & Stephen L. Mueller & Jeffrey E. Mcgee, 2007. "The Influence Of Social Ties And Self-Efficacy In Forming Entrepreneurial Intentions And Motivating Nascent Behavior," Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship (JDE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 12(03), pages 275-293.
    11. DeTienne, Dawn R., 2010. "Entrepreneurial exit as a critical component of the entrepreneurial process: Theoretical development," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 25(2), pages 203-215, March.
    12. Ajzen, Icek, 1991. "The theory of planned behavior," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 179-211, December.
    13. Kolvereid, Lars & Isaksen, Espen, 2006. "New business start-up and subsequent entry into self-employment," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 21(6), pages 866-885, November.
    14. Jensen, Michael C, 1986. "Agency Costs of Free Cash Flow, Corporate Finance, and Takeovers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(2), pages 323-329, May.
    15. John E. Butler & Phillip H. Phan & Borje O. Saxberg & Soon Hoon Lee, 2001. "Entrepreneurial Succession, Firm Growth And Performance," Journal of Enterprising Culture (JEC), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 9(04), pages 407-436.
    16. Pramodita Sharma & S. Manikutty, 2005. "Strategic Divestments in Family Firms: Role of Family Structure and Community Culture," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 29(3), pages 293-311, May.
    17. Isabelle Le Breton–Miller & Danny Miller & Lloyd P. Steier, 2004. "Toward an Integrative Model of Effective FOB Succession," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 28(4), pages 305-328, July.
    18. Teemu Kautonen & Marco van Gelderen & Matthias Fink, 2015. "Robustness of the Theory of Planned Behavior in Predicting Entrepreneurial Intentions and Actions," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 39(3), pages 655-674, May.
    19. Wennberg, Karl & Wiklund, Johan & DeTienne, Dawn R. & Cardon, Melissa S., 2010. "Reconceptualizing entrepreneurial exit: Divergent exit routes and their drivers," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 25(4), pages 361-375, July.
    20. Michael Lubatkin & William S. Schulze & Richard N. Dino, 2003. "Exploring the agency consequences of ownership dispersion among the directors of private family firms," Post-Print hal-02276698, HAL.
    21. Josh Lerner & Morten Sorensen & Per Strömberg, 2011. "Private Equity and Long‐Run Investment: The Case of Innovation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(2), pages 445-477, April.
    22. Baskerville, Rachel F., 2003. "Hofstede never studied culture," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 1-14, January.
    23. Steven N. Kaplan & Jeremy C. Stein, 1993. "THE EVOLUTION OF BUYOUT PRICING AND FINANCIAL STRUCTURE (OR, WHAT WENT WRONG) IN THE 1980s," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 6(1), pages 72-88, March.
    24. Leroy, H. & Manigart, S. & Meuleman, M., 2009. "The planned decision to transfer an entrepreneurial company," Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School Working Paper Series 2009-13, Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School.
    25. Praet, Alain, 2013. "Family firms and the divestment decision: An agency perspective," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 4(1), pages 34-41.
    26. Naresh K. Malhotra & Sung S. Kim & Ashutosh Patil, 2006. "Common Method Variance in IS Research: A Comparison of Alternative Approaches and a Reanalysis of Past Research," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(12), pages 1865-1883, December.
    27. DeTienne, Dawn R. & McKelvie, Alexander & Chandler, Gaylen N., 2015. "Making sense of entrepreneurial exit strategies: A typology and test," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 255-272.
    28. Beate Rotefoss & Lars Kolvereid, 2005. "Aspiring, nascent and fledgling entrepreneurs: an investigation of the business start-up process," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(2), pages 109-127, March.
    29. Lars Kolvereid, 1996. "Organizational Employment versus Self-Employment: Reasons for Career Choice Intentions," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 20(3), pages 23-31, April.
    30. Armstrong, J. Scott & Overton, Terry S., 1977. "Estimating Nonresponse Bias in Mail Surveys," MPRA Paper 81694, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    31. Willard, Gary E. & Krueger, David A. & Feeser, Henry R., 1992. "In order to grow, must the founder go: A comparison of performance between founder and non-founder managed high-growth manufacturing firms," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 181-194, May.
    32. KruegerJR, Norris F. & Reilly, Michael D. & Carsrud, Alan L., 2000. "Competing models of entrepreneurial intentions," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 15(5-6), pages 411-432.
    33. Paul Westhead & David Storey, 1997. "Financial constraints on the growth of high technology small firms in the United Kingdom," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(2), pages 197-201.
    34. Jess H. Chua & James J. Chrisman & Pramodita Sharma, 1999. "Defining the Family Business by Behavior," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 23(4), pages 19-39, July.
    35. Wennberg, Karl & Wiklund, Johan & Hellerstedt, Karin & Nordqvist, Mattias, 2011. "Implications of Intra-Family and External Ownership Transfer Of Family Firms: Short Term and Long Term Performance," Ratio Working Papers 172, The Ratio Institute.
    36. Dehlen, Tobias & Zellweger, Thomas & Kammerlander, Nadine & Halter, Frank, 2014. "The role of information asymmetry in the choice of entrepreneurial exit routes," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 193-209.
    37. Johan Wiklund & Mattias Nordqvist & Karin Hellerstedt & Miriam Bird, 2013. "Internal versus External Ownership Transition in Family Firms: An Embeddedness Perspective," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 37(6), pages 1319-1340, November.
    38. Mattias Nordqvist & Karl Wennberg & Massimo Bau’ & Karin Hellerstedt, 2013. "An entrepreneurial process perspective on succession in family firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(4), pages 1087-1122, May.
    39. Shourun Guo & Edith S. Hotchkiss & Weihong Song, 2011. "Do Buyouts (Still) Create Value?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(2), pages 479-517, April.
    40. Gabriele Morandin & Massimo Bergami & Richard P. Bagozzi, 2006. "The hierarchical cognitive structure of entrepreneur motivation toward private equity financing," Venture Capital, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(3), pages 253-271, January.
    41. Chandra S. Mishra & Daniel L. Mcconaughy, 1999. "Founding Family Control and Capital Structure: The Risk of Loss of Control and the Aversion to Debt," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 23(4), pages 53-64, July.
    42. Dawn DeTienne & Melissa Cardon, 2012. "Impact of founder experience on exit intentions," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 38(4), pages 351-374, May.
    43. Steven N. Kaplan & Jeremy C. Stein, 1993. "The Evolution of Buyout Pricing and Financial Structure in the 1980s," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(2), pages 313-357.
    44. Sapienza, Harry J., 1992. "When do venture capitalists add value?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 9-27, January.
    45. Pramodita Sharma & P. Gregory Irving, 2005. "Four Bases of Family Business Successor Commitment: Antecedents and Consequences," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 29(1), pages 13-33, January.
    46. Thomas M. Zellweger & Franz W. Kellermanns & James J. Chrisman & Jess H. Chua, 2012. "Family Control and Family Firm Valuation by Family CEOs: The Importance of Intentions for Transgenerational Control," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(3), pages 851-868, June.
    47. M. F. R. Kets De Vries, 1977. "The Entrepreneurial Personality: A Person At The Crossroads," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(1), pages 34-57, March.
    48. Birley, Sue & Westhead, Paul, 1990. "Private business sales environments in the United Kingdom," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 5(6), pages 349-373, November.
    49. M. Scholes & Mike Wright & Paul Westhead & Andrew Burrows & Hans Bruining, 2007. "Information Sharing, Price Negotiation and Management Buy-outs of Private Family-owned Firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 29(3), pages 329-349, October.
    50. Wright, Mike & Thompson, Steve & Robbie, Ken, 1992. "Venture capital and management-led, leveraged buy-outs: A European perspective," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 47-71, January.
    51. Christian Koropp & Dietmar Grichnik & André Gygax, 2013. "Succession financing in family firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 315-334, August.
    52. Howorth, Carole & Westhead, Paul & Wright, Mike, 2004. "Buyouts, information asymmetry and the family management dyad," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 509-534, July.
    53. Dawson, Alexandra, 2011. "Private equity investment decisions in family firms: The role of human resources and agency costs," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 189-199, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Andreas Falke & Nadine Schröder & Herbert Endres, 2020. "A first fit index on estimation accuracy in structural equation models," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 90(2), pages 277-302, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Marta Widz & Nadine Kammerlander, 2023. "Entrepreneurial exit intentions in emerging economies: a neoinstitutional perspective," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(2), pages 615-638, February.
    2. Dehlen, Tobias & Zellweger, Thomas & Kammerlander, Nadine & Halter, Frank, 2014. "The role of information asymmetry in the choice of entrepreneurial exit routes," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 193-209.
    3. Paolo Toma & Stefano Montanari, 2017. "Corporate governance effectiveness along the entrepreneurial process of a family firm: the role of private equity," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 21(4), pages 1023-1052, December.
    4. Schickinger, Antonia & Leitterstorf, Max P. & Kammerlander, Nadine, 2018. "Private equity and family firms: A systematic review and categorization of the field," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 268-292.
    5. Ahlers, Oliver & Hack, Andreas & Kellermanns, Franz W., 2014. "“Stepping into the buyers’ shoes”: Looking at the value of family firms through the eyes of private equity investors," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 5(4), pages 384-396.
    6. Strese, Steffen & Gebhard, Philipp & Feierabend, David & Brettel, Malte, 2018. "Entrepreneurs' perceived exit performance: Conceptualization and scale development," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 351-370.
    7. Mattias Nordqvist & Karl Wennberg & Massimo Bau’ & Karin Hellerstedt, 2013. "An entrepreneurial process perspective on succession in family firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(4), pages 1087-1122, May.
    8. Dawn R. DeTienne & Francesco Chirico, 2013. "Exit Strategies in Family Firms: How Socioemotional Wealth Drives the Threshold of Performance," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 37(6), pages 1297-1318, November.
    9. Arndt Werner & Sabrina Schell & Ljuba Haunschild, 2021. "How does a succession influence investment decisions, credit financing and business performance in small and medium-sized family firms?," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 423-446, March.
    10. Wennberg, Karl & Wiklund, Johan & Hellerstedt, Karin & Nordqvist, Mattias, 2011. "Implications of Intra-Family and External Ownership Transfer Of Family Firms: Short Term and Long Term Performance," Ratio Working Papers 172, The Ratio Institute.
    11. Erich Battistin & Paolo Bortoluzzi & Fabio Buttignon & Marco Vedovato, 2017. "Minority and majority private equity investments: firm performance and governance," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 21(3), pages 659-684, September.
    12. Hsu, Dan K. & Shinnar, Rachel S. & Anderson, Stella E., 2019. "‘I wish I had a regular job’: An exploratory study of entrepreneurial regret," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 217-227.
    13. Zellweger, Thomas & Sieger, Philipp & Halter, Frank, 2011. "Should I stay or should I go? Career choice intentions of students with family business background," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 26(5), pages 521-536, September.
    14. Simon C. Parker, 2016. "Family Firms and the “Willing Successor†Problem," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 40(6), pages 1241-1259, November.
    15. Rajiv Agarwal & Arya Kumar & Keith D'Souza, 2016. "Issues in Career Choices of Successors in Family Businesses: Perspective from Literature Review," Journal of Applied Management and Investments, Department of Business Administration and Corporate Security, International Humanitarian University, vol. 5(1), pages 1-19, February.
    16. Noni Symeonidou & Dawn R. DeTienne & Francesco Chirico, 2022. "The persistence of family firms: How does performance threshold affect family firm exit?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 59(2), pages 477-489, August.
    17. Nguyen, Pascal & Rahman, Nahid & Zhao, Ruoyun, 2013. "Ownership structure and divestiture decisions: Evidence from Australian firms," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 170-181.
    18. Adnane MAALAOUI & Imen SAFRAOU & Judith PARTOUCHE & Celine Viala, 2019. "How Subjective Age Affects Entrepreneurship: The Effects of Rejuvenating Trend on Entrepreneurial Intention among Seniors," Working Papers 2019-002, Department of Research, Ipag Business School.
    19. Felix K. Thiele, 2017. "Family businesses and non-family equity: literature review and avenues for future research," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 67(1), pages 31-63, February.
    20. Dawson, Alexandra, 2011. "Private equity investment decisions in family firms: The role of human resources and agency costs," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 189-199, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Family firm succession; Managerial decisions; Private equity; Mittelstand; Theory of planned behavior;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility
    • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jbecon:v:88:y:2018:i:3:d:10.1007_s11573-017-0870-8. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.