In a modest building on Oslebshauser Heerstrasse in Bremen, a small team of dealmakers is quietly shaping some of the most interesting cross-border mergers in Europe. The firm is called Kaiserberg Financial Services, and for more than two decades it has been helping German buyers acquire standout companies across the UK, Ireland, and Scotland.
They’re not a flashy investment bank. There’s no glossy advertising or corporate fanfare. Yet Kaiserberg has completed more than 200 transactions, with a 95% success rate and over €500 million in deal value. For a boutique advisory, that’s a record that even the big players notice.
Crossing Borders, Building Bridges
At the heart of Kaiserberg is Raphael Arretin, a calm, analytical man who still speaks with the understated precision of his investment banking days. As Managing Partner, he has overseen transactions worth more than €2 billion across Europe — but he talks less about numbers and more about people.
“Our clients are usually founders — people who’ve built something over 30 or 40 years,” Arretin says. “When they decide to sell, it’s deeply personal. Our job is to make sure it’s not just a financial event, but the start of a new chapter for their business.”
He pauses before adding, “We’re translators — not just between English and German, but between cultures, expectations, and ambitions.”
That, perhaps, explains why Kaiserberg has become the go-to advisor for mid-sized British and Irish firms looking for a German buyer.
A Year of Strong Deals
The firm’s recent track record reads like a snapshot of Europe’s evolving mid-market. In 2024 alone, Kaiserberg advised on six major deals worth a combined €49 million. Among them:
- A €12.5 million sale of a precision engineering company in Scotland to a UK industrial group.
- An €8.3 million deal involving a British enterprise SaaS platform, acquired by an Irish technology investor.
- A €6.2 million integration of a healthcare practice network into a UK portfolio.
- And a €4.8 million merger between an Irish digital agency and a UK creative firm.
Each one was a cross-border negotiation with multiple jurisdictions, currencies, and cultures in play.
“German investors are increasingly looking to the British Isles for steady, well-managed companies,” Arretin explains. “There’s a deep respect for British craftsmanship and Irish innovation. Despite Brexit, business cooperation hasn’t weakened — it’s become more intentional.”
How Kaiserberg Works
Kaiserberg’s process is quietly methodical. The firm operates around four pillars: strategic advisory, confidential marketing, business valuation, and transaction management.
Partner Ann Willborn, who leads UK and Ireland operations, says discretion is a defining trait.
“Our clients trust us with their most sensitive moments — often before anyone else knows they’re considering a sale,” she says. “We only contact a handful of potential buyers, all under NDA. It keeps control, dignity, and competitive tension in the right balance.”
The firm’s network stretches across the British Isles — from industrial firms in the Midlands to tech innovators in Dublin and renewable developers in the Highlands. Their deals often unite traditional engineering with modern capital — “heritage meets momentum,” as Willborn puts it.
The Team Behind the Curtain
Alongside Arretin and Willborn, Kaiserberg’s leadership includes Dennis Bright, an operations specialist with two decades in industrial and manufacturing sectors, and Agnes Kunin, a chartered accountant fluent in both German and English who leads the firm’s valuation work.
Kunin describes the firm’s ethos simply:
“We’re not trying to be the biggest. We just want to be the most trusted.”
That trust is partly built on empathy. Many of Kaiserberg’s clients are family-owned companies, where selling means handing over generations of work.
“You can’t quantify the emotion behind a founder’s decision,” Arretin says. “But you can respect it — and that’s what makes the deal work.”
Looking Forward
The firm’s recent deals show a growing focus on technology, healthcare, and renewable energy — sectors where Germany’s appetite for growth aligns with the UK and Ireland’s innovation. In 2023, Kaiserberg oversaw a €22.1 million sale of a Scottish wind and solar developer to a renewable energy fund, a transaction Arretin calls “the kind of deal that defines the future of European collaboration.”
As Europe continues to navigate post-Brexit realities and the drive toward sustainability, Kaiserberg seems perfectly placed — part translator, part strategist, part confidant.
“Cross-border M&A isn’t about geography anymore,” Arretin reflects near the end of our conversation. “It’s about mindset. Visionary leaders will always find ways to connect — and we’ll be here to help them do it.”
Kaiserberg Financial Services GmbH
Oslebshauser Heerstr. 48, D-28239 Bremen, Germany
Email: info@kabfinancials.com
www.kabfinancials.com
