The relevance of intangible assets in German SMEs

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the perceptions of the advisors and valuers of German associations regarding the relevance of intangible assets in general, and for the purpose of company succession in particular.Design/methodology/approach – To perform this study German associations were examined, which play an essential role in company succession in Germany, from both sides of the process. Conducting a web‐survey, 51 answers were received (response‐rate = 42.5 per cent) which could be used for the analyses.Findings – Amongst others, the study showed that intangible assets are of a moderate relevance. However, a large proportion of respondents expect intangible assets to be of greater relevance in the future. The study highlighted that intangibles do have a great impact on the decision‐making process of an investor.Research limitations/implications – The total population of German Association is 135. The author received answers from 51 associations, which did not fulfil the statistical siz...

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