Germany’s unloved Mittelstand

Medium-size, family-owned companies may be the mainstay of the German economy, but they have been ignored by equity investors seduced either by smaller, riskier high-growth stocks or restructuring corporate giants. Now Mittelstand companies cannot even rely on their traditional banks for funding. And those that finally accept the need to go public often meet a frosty reception. Nigel Dudley reports

       
Walter Moldan

Germany’s Mittelstand companies are the backbone of the country, comprising something like 60% to 70% of the economy’s gross national product. But a large number of them are starting to feel persecuted by their government, their bankers and their potential investors, as they are squeezed between, on one side dynamic, high-technology businesses and on the other, by large, blue chip companies.

These traditional mainly family-run firms, which thrived in the conservative, protected post-war German market, are finding modern life much harder.

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