When the Buyer Is Swiss or German: What Finnish Business Owners Need to Know

Most Finnish business owners who consider selling their company imagine the process being roughly the same regardless of where the buyer comes from. You prepare the numbers, you present the business, someone makes an offer, you negotiate, and you close.

That framing is not wrong, but it misses something important. When the buyer is Swiss or German, several things work differently. Once you understand how, the differences often work in your favour.

I have worked on both sides of this corridor for the better part of 25 years, including senior M&A roles at KONE Corporation, Consti Group, and Multitude AG, as well as over 170 fundraising transactions at Invesdor. During my time as CEO of Invesdor, we merged with Finnest, an Austrian crowdfunding platform, bringing it into the group and giving me direct experience working with a great DACH-based team and serving German-speaking customers. Here is what I have seen change, and why I think Finnish business owners underestimate what a well-prepared international sale can achieve.

The price is often better than you expect

The first assumption many Finnish sellers make is that a foreign buyer means a lower price. The data does not support this. According to Dealsuite's Nordic M&A Monitor (March 2026), the average EV/EBITDA multiple in the Nordics currently sits at around 5.5x. The DACH region averages 5.55x at the European mid-market level. Swiss buyers, specifically, tend to pay above that. Berney Associés, tracking Swiss SME transactions using the Argos Index, puts the Swiss SME average at approximately 6.5x EBITDA.

A motivated Swiss or German strategic buyer, acquiring into a market they do not know well, will typically pay a premium for a well-positioned Finnish business that solves a real problem for them.

Where preparation matters is in how EBITDA is defined. DACH buyers apply a thorough normalisation process: owner compensation, related-party transactions, and one-off items will be reviewed carefully. This is not hostile; it is standard practice. A seller who has done this work in advance, with clean and well-documented financials, will find the process moves faster and the numbers hold up. A seller who has not will find the adjustments coming as a surprise. The difference between the two outcomes is not the buyer. It is the preparation.

A thorough process is a signal of a serious buyer

Swiss and German buyers run detailed due diligence: legal, financial, commercial, HR. For a lean Finnish SME, the scope can feel large. The right way to read this is as a sign of genuine commitment. Buyers who are not serious do not invest in thorough process.

Coming prepared with organised financials, documented customer contracts, clean shareholder agreements, and an honest picture of the business turns this from a burden into an opportunity to demonstrate quality. The sellers who do well in international processes are almost always the ones who have invested time in preparation before the process starts, not during it.

Knowing who makes the decision helps you move faster

In Finnish SME transactions, the decision-maker is usually obvious. In a Swiss family office, a German Mittelstand group, or a DACH private equity platform, decisions often involve a board or investment committee that does not appear at the early meetings. Swiss governance (the Verwaltungsrat) and German corporate law create structured approval layers that are worth understanding from the start.

This is not an obstacle. It is a map. Once you understand whose sign-off is needed and what that person cares about, you can structure your materials and your conversations accordingly. A Finnish seller who understands this moves through the process more efficiently than one who is surprised by it halfway through.

Cultural differences are navigable, not problematic

Finnish and Swiss or German business cultures are different in style, but not incompatible. Finnish communication is direct and relatively informal once trust is established. Swiss and German counterparts tend to be more formal and process-oriented, and they place real value on written documentation at each stage of a negotiation.

This is a feature, not a problem. A buyer who wants things written down is a buyer who is taking the transaction seriously and building toward close. The adjustment required from a Finnish seller is mostly procedural: treat written summaries and signed stage documents as part of the process rather than unnecessary overhead, and match the register of the counterpart.

Language is not the only bridge to build

Transactions between Finnish sellers and DACH buyers are typically conducted in English. But fluency in the language is different from fluency in the context. A Finnish seller who can explain their business compellingly to a Swiss strategic buyer, in terms of the market position, the growth logic, and the integration rationale that matters to that specific buyer, will always outperform one who relies on the numbers alone.

The same applies in reverse. A DACH buyer who does not understand Finnish business culture may misread signals, underestimate the quality of the management team, or structure an approach that does not land well.

This is where an advisor who understands both sides can create tremendous value. It is not just translation. It is knowing what to emphasise, what to anticipate, and how to keep a deal moving when the two sides are reading the same facts differently.

If you are a Finnish business owner exploring what a sale to an international buyer might look like, I am happy to discuss further.

Lasse Mäkelä is the Founder of Larzon Capital, a cross-border M&A advisory firm based in Switzerland, focused on the Nordic-DACH corridor.