After the reform of the law of succession, the 2nd edition of the manual has been published now, featuring his contribution on legal issues of the transfer of businesses.

Vienna, January 2018. Exactly one year ago, the legislator reformed the law of succession, some parts of which are 200 years old. The reform also concerns business people having to organise their succession. Lukas Flener is a partner at Fellner Wratzfeld & Partners (fwp) and a co-author of “Erbrecht und Vermögensnachfolge”, a manual of over 1800 pages, the 2nd edition of which has just been published by Verlag Österreich. In his contribution, entitled “Besondere Objekte der Vermögensweitergabe” (special objects of transmission of assets), he deals with the legal issues involved in business succession. Many further experts convey essential expertise regarding estate planning and the transmission of assets in the manual edited by Gruber/Kalss/Müller/Schauer.

Business succession problems

In the period 2014 to 2023, more than 45,000 small and medium-sized employer businesses in Austria face the challenge of finding a successor. But in at least 20 percent of the cases where businesses are transferred, handing them down to the next generation fails. (Source: Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy, Mittelstandsbericht (SME Report) 2014) “The reasons for failing are multi-faceted and frequently interlinked. They mainly include preparing for the changeover to the next generation insufficiently and often too late, doing without external advisors, and lack of experience on the part of the successors”, says fwp partner Lukas Flener.

Practical introduction to the successful transfer of businesses

In the manual’s chapter “Besondere Objekte der Vermögensweitergabe” (special objects of transmission of assets), Lukas Flener provides a legal overview regarding the transfer of a business. He describes the concept of business, the forms of businesses and the ways of transferring a business. Furthermore, he presents the principles of designing transactions and drafting contracts. The introduction to the – frequently neglected – topics antitrust and takeover law and to the corporate reporting obligations is also of practical relevance. The final section of the overview is a presentation of the options available for squeezing out shareholders based on the Squeeze-Out Act (Gesellschafterausschlussgesetz).

Further information on the “Erbrecht und Vermögensnachfolge” manual is available on the website of Verlag Österreich www.verlagoesterreich.at.