1. How to build statistics on business take-over ?
Catherine RENNE, INSEE

2. Growing user needs Observation Stakes
30% of the enterprises are managed by someone who is more than 50 years old.
Majority of business take-over concern SMEs which are less prepared than big enterprises
Stakes
Employment
Development of french territory

3. Enterprises in France 51% 42% 40% 21% 39% 7% 0.2% [0] [1-9] [10-249]
>250
Enterprises
Employees

4. Enterprises : localization & activity
1 enterprise out of 5 is located in a rural district
1 enterprise out of 3 has a proximity activity :
Retail trade
Hôtels & restaurants
Some services to households

5. User needs Comprehensive database on units : Questions :
What is a business take-over?
Does the BR contain all the necessary information?
How to build the database linking all the units involved in the process?
that are taken over
which take over
With information on:
Localization
Sector of activity
Employment
Survival

6. Business take-over ? Transfer of both ownership & decision making
from a legal entity, which makes over its business,
and an other one which takes it over.
Within the family context
Buy out by the employees
Buy out by someone outside the enterprise (new /existing entrepreneur)
Purchase the majority of shares in a firm
Transfer by private agreement
Transfer due to bankruptcy

7. Free of charge Not Free Of Charge
No new record
in the BR
Free of
charge
Inheritance
settlement
Not « sole propr. »
« sole propr. »
Creation by take-over : in the BR
Take over of
the assets
Creation by take-over in the BR
purchased goodwill
Not
Free Of
Charge
Management of the business
Can be identified in the BR (if declared)
Absorption, splitt-off, mergers
Can not be identified in the BR
Taking control of a company

8. Conclusions of the first step
BR information is a good starting point to estimate business take-over
Additional information is needed to have a complete estimation of absorption, splitt-off, mergers
BR is not the good source to estimate take-over by bying the shares.
Acording to a study made by the chamber of commerce of Paris, this way of take-over is as important as the other ways of take-over.

9. Where to find missing information?
Business Register
Information related to the managers & the components of the capital
Annual Business Survey
Information related to enterprise restructuring
Survey on financial links
Information of owner of the shares of a company that belongs to an enterprises group

10. Use of BR information Declared information Information managed by BR
By the unit which takes over : origin of means of production, ident. number of the predecessor
By the unit which is taken over : destination of means of production in case of cessation, but no information on the unit which takes over
Information managed by BR
Search for a possible predecessor:in case of creation of a local unit with more than 5 empl.

11. % Change 1998-2001 Real deaths Take-over 1998 170 885 53 703 2001
50 453
% 98/01
-3.7%
-6.1%
Business take-over
By an enterp.
New
Existing
unknown
1998
39 915
9 486
4 302
2001
38 050
9 621
2 782
Évol. 98/01
-4.7%
+1.4%
-35.3%

12. Real deaths : -3.7% 0 employee 1-9 employees 10-249 employees
1998
59 082
3 942 16
2001
54 549
4 054 22
% 98/01
-1.7%
-7.7%
+2.8%
+37.5%
Average size
1-9 employees
employees
> 250 employees
2.2
23.2
551.4
2.2
23.5
421.0

13. Business take-over : -6.1%
0 employee
1-9 employees
employees
> 250 employees
1998
16 617
33 111
3 847
128
2001
13 447
32 641
4 227
138
% 98/01
-19.1%
-1.4%
+9.9%
+7.8%
Average size
1 à 9 salariés
10 à 249 salariés
250 salariés et +
2.6
34.0
657.4
2.8
32.7
709.0

14. Business take-over by activity
Pers. Services
Trade
Food industry
Construction
Industry
Services to entrep
Education, health
Transport
Real estate
1998
19 979
17 198
4 103
3 502
3 080
2 635
1 528
1 174
504
2001
19 812
15 420
3 882
3 555
2 655
2 627
976
1 046
480
% 98/01
-0,8%
-10,3%
-5,4%
+1,5%
-13,8%
-0,3%
-36,1%
-10,9%
-4,6%

15. Units involved in the process
Unit which is taken over : sole proprietorship
1998
21 411
13 334
2001
18 289
13 262
% 98/01
-14.6%
-0.5%
Sole propr.
Company
Unit which is taken over : Company
-4.7%
+15.9%
Sole propr.
Company
4 214
10 442
4 015
12 105

16. Comments from our users
Prop 1: Exclusion of sectors of education & health from the statistics
Prop 2 : Analyse of take-over of enterprises that belong to an Enterprise Group separately
Prop 3 : Detailed analyse should be done on enterprises with less than 50 employees
Prop 4 : Question of purchase of shares should be much more investigated