SHD – Seniorenhilfe Dortmund GmbH
The company
SHD was founded in 2007 when its founder was looking for an alternative to a nursing home for his parents. However, there was no agency in the Ruhr area that could provide him with an Eastern European caregiver. This situation prompted him to open his own agency in 2007, which not only finds caregivers, but also recruits them itself and is available as a point of contact throughout the entire duration of the collaboration. This one-stop-shop concept offers considerable added value to both the people who want to use the care services and the caregivers themselves.
With this type of 24-hour care, the caregiver moves into the home of the person requiring care. The caregiver provides assistance with household tasks; services may also include individual support with personal hygiene and getting dressed and undressed. An important aspect is personal attention, for example through conversation, games, or going for walks.
Most of the nursing assistants are Polish, have several years of professional experience, and generally speak German at an intermediate level. Since 2007, SHD has satisfied over 5,000 customers.
The successor
Stefan Lux, who holds a degree in economics, was most recently managing director at a large ARD media company. He was now looking for an attractive company that he could acquire from a succession situation in order to realize his dream of self-employment. Although he had extensive experience in corporate management, he did not have any experience in the process of acquiring companies, so he sought professional support for this project and commissioned WESTFALENFINANZ GmbH with a request mandate.
The project
Together, we defined the search profile (industry, region, size, etc.) and the approach (stock exchanges, direct contact, network, etc.) and implemented it promptly. This active search resulted in numerous initial meetings with entrepreneurs from various industries who were looking for a successor. Many interesting (and less interesting) discussions were held, but it took several months to find the perfect match.
The acquisition
From its network, WESTFALENFINANZ was finally able to present SHD as a target company, and the sale was handled by an intermediary. After some initial cautious probing, it quickly became clear that the chemistry between buyer and seller was right and that both sides wanted a transaction. Mr. Lux spent a few days "shadowing" at the company, after which a "lean" due diligence process was carried out and the purchase agreement was drawn up.
Mr. Lux is now the managing partner and continues to run the company in line with the original founder's vision, but he also brings many of his own fresh ideas and expansion plans to the table.
