For Founders
You built a business worth handing over well
When the time comes to step back, Saha helps you entrust your company to the right successor: a trusted manager, a family member or a carefully selected outside leader. We provide the financing and the structure, and you receive the majority of the price in cash at closing.
We understand what is at stake
When you decide to hand over your business, it is not just a financial decision. It is personal. Your name is on it. Your team trusts you. Your customers rely on the standards you set. Succession planning for a family business or founder-led company is one of the most important decisions you will ever make.
Often, the person best placed to carry the business forward is already close to you: a manager who knows its customers, or a family member prepared to lead. What usually stands in the way is not ability but capital. Few successors have the means or the guarantees to acquire the company they are able to run, and a bank will not finance the entire price.
Saha addresses precisely this. We finance the succession together with a Swiss bank and long-term investors, invest alongside your successor, and remain a long-term co-owner. Your company retains its name, its people and its character.
What you can expect from us
Your company keeps its identity
Our strong preference is to preserve the name, brand, and local presence of every company we invest in. Each company continues to operate in its own market, with its own identity.
A successor chosen on capability
Whether your manager, a family member or a carefully selected outside leader, we support the person best able to lead the company. An outside successor always works alongside you for a period before assuming responsibility.
The majority of the price in cash at closing
You receive the larger part of the price when the transaction closes. A smaller portion remains in the company as a seller loan, repaid with interest on a fixed schedule.
A price agreed at the outset
We agree the price on the basis of the results you have already achieved, before any preparatory work begins. The work required to prepare the company for handover is not charged to you.
Your involvement is on your terms
Some founders prefer a clean handover. Others remain involved in an advisory role for a time. We design the transition around what is right for you and your successor.
Continuity, with no exit deadline
Saha does not invest in order to resell. We retain a lasting stake, and the team you built remains central to the company. Decisions concerning people are made for its long-term health, never for short-term economics.
What makes a good fit
We consider every company against three questions. Is there a capable successor? Can the business carry its financing comfortably, including through a difficult year? And does the succession genuinely require Saha, because the successor cannot finance it alone? Where all three are met, we are well placed to help.
Established and profitable
Typically 10 to 100 employees, with stable profits over several years and a proven track record.
Stable, recurring demand
Revenue that is steady or recurring, not project-based or dependent on a small number of large contracts.
A capable successor in view
A manager, a family member or a person you trust who is able to lead the company. Where no one is yet in place, we can help identify and prepare the right person.
Time for a proper handover
A transition planned with your involvement, so that knowledge, customers and relationships are transferred with care.
What it looks like to work with us
There is no pressure and no obligation at any stage. We move at a pace that feels right for you.
A confidential first conversation
We start with a private, no-obligation conversation to understand your business, your thinking, and your timeline. Nothing moves forward unless you want it to.
A candid assessment of readiness
Together we consider the fit: profitability, stability of demand, the extent to which the company depends on you day to day, and who is able to succeed you. Our tools allow us to do this efficiently, so that you receive a clear view early.
An exclusive agreement
Where there is a fit, we agree a period of exclusivity, typically twelve to twenty-four months, and a price based on the results you have already achieved. Nothing changes for your company or your team at this stage.
Preparing the handover
We help capture the knowledge you hold, document how key parts of the business operate, and prepare everything the bank requires. Your successor comes to know the company alongside you.
Financing and closing
Your successor and Saha acquire the company together, with a Swiss bank and long-term investors financing the remainder. You receive the majority of the price in cash at closing.
Continued support after closing
We remain alongside your successor for the long term, with clear financial reporting, early attention to any difficulty, and experience drawn from the other companies we support.
Your business is worth a serious conversation
If you are beginning to think about what comes next, we would be glad to listen. Everything is confidential, there is no obligation, and the pace is entirely yours.