More than a third (34%) of SMEs in France have carried out an external growth operation in the last five years by buying another company, according to a study published Tuesday by Bpifrance.
And among the 668 SME managers who responded to a questionnaire from the public investment bank, more than four out of five (81%) claim to have considered or launched a business acquisition project over the same period.
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The companies which launched a project which did not succeed are in particular "
those which encountered difficulties in negotiating the price or during the audits which are carried out before the final takeover
", explained to AFP Élise Tissier. , Director of Bpifrance Le Lab and in charge of the study.
Leaders who have encountered such obstacles are more likely to succeed in buying another company "
in the short to medium term
" than those who do not have the time or the skill to carry out such an operation, she specifies.
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Of the 34% who have successfully completed a takeover, the majority have done so only once (19% of total respondents), compared to 8% who have taken over two companies and 7% at least three.
Nearly two-thirds of business acquirers are over 51 and have been running their own business for more than 10 years.
They are 77% majority shareholders or the sole shareholders of their company.
The aim sought in acquiring a company is more to improve its profitability, to diversify its activities or to cover larger geographical areas than to recruit additional teams, to promote innovation or to maintain its market share by blocking the arrival of a competitor, according to the results of the study.
But all is not settled, far from it, once a company has bought another.
"
Growth synergies, which are more important than cost synergies, they only happen if the marriage goes well, and that's what is the most difficult
," says Élise Tissier.
The amounts of redemptions made by SMEs are in 55% of cases less than one million euros, in 33%, between 1 and 5 million, and in 12%, greater than 5 million.
