Corporate Finance - M&A - Succession Planning - WIRA AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft (EN)

Corporate Finance - M & A - Succession Planning

WIRA Audit supports companies, shareholders, and investors with complex financial and strategic issues. In the field of Corporate Finance, we combine analytical depth, valuation expertise, and transaction experience – for well-informed decisions, successful transactions, and sustainable corporate development.

What does corporate finance entail?

Corporate finance deals with the financial management, valuation, and strategic development of companies. This pertains to organic business growth. The goal is to identify economic opportunities, minimize risks, and secure the company’s financing and enterprise value in the long term.

This also includes advising on exit strategies, which for family-owned businesses typically involves succession planning within the family or the company.

Finally, one of the most important topics:
Specialized solutions for affordable equity capital while retaining control, in addition to well-known instruments such as PE, VC, and mezzanine capital
M&A transactions. Here, WIRA – Audit advises both buyers and sellers.

Business Valuation

We prepare well-founded business valuations in accordance with recognized valuation standards. Our valuations serve as a reliable basis for company acquisitions and sales, corporate law matters, fairness opinions, purchase price allocations, and impairment tests. In doing so, we place particular emphasis on transparency, audit reliability, and decision-making relevance.

M&A Advisory (Acquisitions and Sales)

WIRA Audit provides comprehensive support for national and international M&A transactions. We assist with strategic planning, the structuring of acquisition and sale processes, and contract negotiations. In doing so, we give equal consideration to economic, tax, and organizational aspects.

Transaction Services / Due Diligence

We conduct financial due diligence reviews in the context of company acquisitions or sales. We analyze the earnings situation, asset and financial structure, and the sustainability of earnings quality. Risks and opportunities are clearly identified and presented in a decision-oriented manner.

Financing Advisory & Capital Structure

We advise companies on designing and optimizing their financing structure. This includes preparing for meetings with banks and investors, analyzing existing financing arrangements, and developing sustainable capital structures that support growth and stability.

Strategic Corporate Planning & Business Plans

We support you in creating integrated business plans, business plans, and scenario analyses. Our plans are realistic, easy to understand, and tailored to your strategic goals—for example, to prepare for financing, investor decisions, or strategic business decisions.

Succession Planning

We advise (family) business owners on planning their succession—ideally as early as possible. This first requires an analysis of whether succession can be arranged within the family and, if necessary, how heirs who are not taking over the business will be compensated. Comprehensive and integrated advice is essential here, covering aspects of corporate law, tax law, and inheritance and estate tax law. Where succession within the family is not possible or not exclusively possible, senior executives can also be involved as part of a management buyout. Finally, the exit strategy may also involve the sale of the company. Here, too, it is important to make timely decisions regarding corporate and tax matters (e.g., establishing a holding structure, even for medium-sized companies).

The benefits you get with WIRA

Valuation Expertise

In-depth valuation expertise with a critical eye

Transaction Experience

Structured Support for Complex M&A Processes

Focus on Small and Medium-Sized Businesses

Practical solutions for business decisions

International Focus

Support for Cross-Border Transactions

Transaction Advisory Services

Acquiring a company is a process that is as complex as it is integrative, with one aspect interlocking with another.

Expansion into new markets, focusing on core competencies, generational transition: there are many good reasons for transactions. But every deal requires a very specific strategy. Careful analyses and business planning concepts form the basis for strategic decisions regarding mergers and acquisitions and are the business tools of WIRA’s strategy consultants. They support companies in underpinning their vision with facts and initiating the right measures.

WIRA’s experts analyze the competitive landscape and identify market trends. Working closely with the company, they develop a strategy at the corporate or business unit level, identify potential target companies, buyers, or sellers, and highlight opportunities and risks. They translate these strategies into robust business plans and develop a decision-making framework so that a company can actively shape negotiations and bring the transaction to a swift and successful conclusion.

WIRA generates information on the strategic, operational, and financial positioning of companies and determines which parts of the business contribute to value creation or destroy value. The latter can be restructured or divested to use the freed-up funds to advance the core business. In the run-up to a transaction, they also evaluate strategic options regarding the acquisition of a target company and identify potential synergies.

An overview of our services:

Private Equity Consulting
Consulting on strategic decision-making, including value drivers, courses of action, opportunities, and risks (examples: expansion of the value chain, currency hedging, market access, product portfolio, transaction volume, etc.)
Structuring of transaction processes
Screening and target approach
Buy-Side Due Diligence
Transaction Tax
Contract Assistance
Closing Accounts
Transaction Financing
Preparation for Post-Merger Integration
Purchase Price Allocation
Vendor Due Diligence.

Due Diligence

Our analysis provides companies with a solid basis for decision-making.

Evaluating an acquisition opportunity requires a detailed analysis of the target company. WIRA analyzes and evaluates areas relevant to the transaction, such as:

Strategic & Commercial Due Diligence

As part of Strategic & Commercial Due Diligence, we analyze a target company’s market and competition as well as its business model, value chain, and business plan. The goal here is to assess the sustainability of the target company’s business model. To this end, we prepare all relevant information and analyses in a transparent manner. Particular emphasis is placed on analyzing strategic market segments, competition, customers, products, pricing, and the unique selling proposition. In addition, our experts validate the planning assumptions underlying the business plan and investment case and assess the organization’s performance and potential.

Financial Due Diligence

Financial due diligence focuses on assessing the opportunities and risks of your investment project. In doing so, our experts analyze both the internal and external financial statements of the target company to enable a reliable assessment of its economic situation. The objective is to provide you with all relevant information regarding the company’s net worth, financial position, and earnings, as well as a transparent review of key findings (deal issues). We place particular emphasis here on purchase price-relevant issues such as the identification and presentation of sustainable earnings, the identification of net financial liabilities, and analyses regarding working capital. In addition to historical information, particular attention is given to the critical review of the resulting financial projections and the identification of key value drivers as well as decisive success factors, with the aim of providing a meaningful analysis of the target company.

Tax Due Diligence

As part of tax due diligence, we conduct a thorough analysis of the tax status. In addition to a targeted examination of tax-related topics, we offer a parallel analysis of tax-relevant business processes and any tax policies. This involves identifying past and future tax risks in the operational and financial areas of the target company. Any potential for tax planning is identified. The insights gained are incorporated, in particular, into clear recommendations for action—characterized by specialized knowledge and cross-functional expertise—regarding the tax and legal structuring of the transaction, the disclosure of contractual bases for purchase price determination, and the negotiation of indemnity, liability, warranty, and guarantee agreements.

Legal Due Diligence

A reliable assessment of the target company’s economic and tax situation is only possible based on the fundamental findings of legal due diligence. The circumstances determining the value of the target company are regularly based on legal foundations and depend on their legality and validity. In addition to its risk identification function across various areas of law, legal due diligence, in conjunction with tax due diligence, plays a special role in structuring the transaction. The findings of legal and tax due diligence influence the financial, legal, temporal, and methodological structure of the transaction more than other areas.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is corporate finance?

Corporate finance encompasses all of a company's financial decisions and strategies. This includes, among other things, business valuations, financing strategies, investment decisions, and support for corporate acquisitions or divestitures.

How does WIRA provide support in the area of corporate finance?

We advise companies on financing issues, business valuations, succession planning, and mergers & acquisitions (M&A). In doing so, we develop customized solutions tailored to the company’s goals and financial situation.

What types of companies benefit from corporate finance consulting?

Our corporate finance services are designed for small and medium-sized enterprises, startups, and growing companies that are making strategic financial decisions or planning capital transactions.

Small and medium-sized enterprises
Shareholders and entrepreneurs
Family-owned businesses
Investors and lenders
Companies in growth, succession, or transition phases

Why is a professional business valuation important?

A well-founded business valuation provides transparency and serves as the basis for investment decisions, business sales, succession planning, or financing. It helps to realistically assess opportunities and risks.

Does WIRA provide support for business succession?

Yes. We assist companies in planning and implementing succession solutions—both within the family and for external transfers. In doing so, we take financial, tax, and strategic considerations into account.

What are the benefits of strategic financial consulting?

Professional financial consulting helps companies find suitable financing solutions, secure liquidity, and enable sustainable growth. At the same time, risks can be identified early on and minimized.

Does WIRA also provide support for business acquisitions and sales?

Yes. We assist with the analysis, structuring, and execution of transactions and support our clients throughout the entire buying or selling process—from planning through to successful completion.