Company sales
Advising owners on full or partial divestitures to strategic buyers and financial investors.
M&A advisory for the German-speaking mid-market
Venator Advisory at a glance
We advise business owners on the sale of their life's work and support investors and strategic buyers in targeted acquisitions across the German-speaking mid-market.
Venator Advisory is an independent M&A boutique based in Munich. We focus on established, profitable companies in the German-speaking mid-market where trust, discretion and entrepreneurial understanding are essential.
Services
Services
Succession planning
Structured solutions for family-owned businesses: from external succession and MBO/MBI to strategic partnerships.
Company acquisitions
Supporting financial investors and strategic buyers in platform and add-on acquisitions.
Deal sourcing
Systematic identification and direct outreach to target companies for financial investors and strategics in the German-speaking mid-market.
Strategic advisory & exit readiness
Preparing companies for a sale process through strategic positioning, equity story refinement and value-enhancing measures before launch.
Growth financing
Equity financing for established companies with scaling potential, from minority stakes to strategic partnerships.
Clients
Who we work with
We advise entrepreneurs, corporates and investors on transactions in the German-speaking mid-market, from one-off owner decisions to ongoing acquisition strategies.
Owner side
Owners and family businesses
Entrepreneurs and shareholder families preparing a full or partial sale, a succession solution or the entry of a partner. We understand the personal dimension behind the transaction: responsibility towards employees, location and entrepreneurial legacy, and we run processes with the discretion a life's work deserves.
Owner side
Mid-market companies
Established, profitable companies pursuing growth through targeted acquisitions, the entry of a capital partner or strategic partnerships. We support management and shareholders from strategic concept through to closing.
Strategics
Corporates
Strategic buyers in add-on acquisitions aligned with platform strategy and in divestitures of non-core business units. Carve-outs and spin-offs require operational experience with separation processes, transition structures and marketing to industrial as well as financial acquirers. We bring that experience.
Capital side
Financial investors
Private equity firms, family offices and investment companies in platform acquisitions, add-ons and systematic deal sourcing in the German-speaking mid-market. We deliver qualified, proprietary deal flow away from competitive auction processes and act as an extension of investment teams – discreetly, sector-focused and transaction-proven.
Markets
Sectors
We advise across industries in the following sectors:
Business Services
We advise scalable service businesses with recurring revenues and institutional buyer interest.
Representative subsectors: IT services, business process outsourcing, financial services, professional services.
Industrials
Our focus is on mid-market industrial companies with technological differentiation and resilient market positions.
Representative subsectors: machinery and plant engineering, automation technology, precision manufacturing, defence & dual-use.
Healthcare
In a defensive market with demographically driven demand, we advise platforms and established providers.
Representative subsectors: care, healthcare services, medtech, health IT.
Technology
Software and technology companies with scalable business models and strong innovation capability are central to our advisory work.
Representative subsectors: software & SaaS, cybersecurity, data & AI, tech-enabled services.
Energy & Infrastructure
Along the energy transition and critical infrastructure, we support companies with long-term stable cash flows.
Representative subsectors: renewable energy, energy storage & PV trading, cleantech, grid and utility infrastructure.
Consumer
Consumer-facing companies with strong brands, loyal customer bases and differentiated distribution channels find a reliable partner in us.
Representative subsectors: consumer goods, e-commerce & D2C, food & beverage, leisure & lifestyle.
Specialisation
Defence
Europe's defence sector faces its most profound realignment since the end of the Cold War: accelerated procurement, tighter regulation and a generational shift in the supplier mid-market require M&A expertise that equally masters market dynamics, supply chains and export control. Venator Advisory combines operational sector knowledge with a strategic partnership with Bravo Six Advisory and a circle of distinguished senior advisors, giving clients market understanding, regulatory context and access to a qualified buyer profile that few European firms can match.
Detailed background & operational depth
We understand this market from our own operational experience. Our team knows the mechanics of the industry in detail: procurement processes at BAAINBw, NATO and allied armed forces; the logic of programme and platform lifecycles; security clearance and export control requirements (BAFA, ITAR/EAR); and supply chain architecture from OEMs through tier-1 system integrators to specialised tier-3 suppliers in precision manufacturing and electronics.
This depth is complemented by our strategic partnership with Bravo Six Advisory, a strategy consultancy specialised in defence, and an established network of distinguished industry experts.
This combination of sector depth and institutional access gives our clients market understanding, regulatory context and access to a qualified buyer universe – a capability profile that only very few M&A firms in Europe can offer in this form.
Senior Advisors
Distinguished figures from the military, industry and strategy consulting as a complement to the Venator Advisory core team.
Lieutenant General (ret.) Andreas Hoppe
Lieutenant General (ret.), Founding Partner Bravo Six Advisory
Andreas Hoppe most recently served as Deputy Inspector General of the Bundeswehr – the highest-ranking soldier in the armed forces – and in that role was also Commissioner for Reservist Affairs. Previously, as Deputy Director General for Strategy and Operations at the German Ministry of Defence, he was responsible for core force planning issues and played a leading role in the structural realignment of the Bundeswehr. The former air force officer and squadron commander brings deep understanding of procurement logic, capability planning and decision-making at the highest military and ministerial level. For mandates in the defence sector, he provides strategic market context and access at institutional level.
Kai Otte
CEO benntec Systemtechnik (Rheinmetall subsidiary), Founding Partner Bravo Six Advisory
Kai Otte is CEO of benntec Systemtechnik GmbH in Bremen, a subsidiary of Rheinmetall AG and one of Germany's leading companies for training and simulation technology in the defence sector. The graduate in business administration and MBA was previously an air force officer and spent several years as managing director and interim manager across different industries, including Deutsche Bahn. He knows the industry side of the defence market from operational leadership – from product development and sales through to collaboration with OEMs and armed forces. In Venator mandates, he contributes industrial market and buyer understanding in the defence and dual-use environment.
Jan Hesselbarth
Founding Partner, Bravo Six Advisory
Jan Hesselbarth combines more than two decades of leadership experience from military operations with strategic consulting at the intersection of defence, logistics and technology. The former paratrooper officer led programmes of up to 1,000 personnel, held responsibility in NATO deployments and advised senior military leadership and government institutions on geostrategy, resilience and security. For Venator mandates, he provides operational depth, a strong network across armed forces and authorities, and a clear sense of what is executable.
Services in the defence sector
Corporate finance advisory for defence companies, suppliers and investors.
Supporting owners and corporate subsidiaries in sales, succession planning and carve-outs along the supply chain, complemented by systematic deal sourcing and buy-side support for financial investors and strategic buyers with a defence or dual-use focus, including sector assessment as well as commercial due diligence and regulatory evaluation in cooperation with Bravo Six Advisory.
Joint venture and consortium structuring
Establishing and negotiating industrial consortia, joint ventures and strategic alliances between mid-market suppliers, OEMs and international partners, particularly in the context of joint programme participation (Eurodrone, FCAS, MGCS, ESSI), technology transfer and offset obligations.
Structuring allied-capital transactions
Building and arranging investments from allied capital: sovereign wealth funds, state-related investors and family offices from NATO and partner countries – for German defence companies seeking capital without compromising security-policy ownership structures.
Team
M&A Professionals
We advise with experience from mid-market mandates: discreetly, with strong judgement and an eye for the entrepreneurial reality behind the numbers.
Lukas Jäger
M&A Professional
Founding and strategic direction of Venator Advisory, M&A advisor for the DACH mid-market with a clear focus on defence. Previously active in private equity investing and ten years as a reconnaissance officer in the Bundeswehr. Degrees from the University of the German Armed Forces in Munich (B.Sc. and M.Sc.).
Viktor Roudyk
M&A Professional
M&A and business development in the German-speaking mid-market. Previously six years as M&A project manager at Aon, director of business development at Kohler and investment manager at a family office; most recently managing director of M.a.n.z. GmbH.
Johannes Kirchmayr, CFA
M&A Professional
Seven years in private equity (Unigestion, CMP). Early M&A experience at ACXIT Capital Partners, now at Stifel (tech, healthcare). Degrees from HSG and Frankfurt School.
Maximilian Walser
M&A Professional
M&A with a focus on tech and services. Internships in investment banking (Raymond James, Drake Star), private equity (THI Investments) and at BDO and MEAG.
Contact
Get in touch
Isabellastraße 48
80796 München
Germany
Email: info@venatoradvisory.de
Initial enquiry
Enquiries are treated confidentially. For confidentiality reasons, we do not initially accept unsolicited data materials. After an initial call, we enter into a non-disclosure agreement if there is mutual interest before documents are exchanged.