Catalonia Region ensures the continuity of its businesses

Many businesses are wound down each year in the Spanish region of Catalonia often due to lack of transmission mechanisms or continuation difficulties. Reempresa is an organisation that aims to ensure the continuity of SMEs when business owners want to sell by matching them with entrepreneurs who want to buy.

From the entrepreneur’s point of view, this avoids the long procedures necessary for starting up a new company. From the seller’s point of view, it means their business – and the effort that went into building it – lives on. The idea of ‘re-entrepreneurship’ is gaining ground across Europe but Catalonia has been particularly effective at making it viable.

Matchmaking process

Reempresa is supported by the Catalan Employers Association (Cecot) and a private foundation promoting self-employment in Catalonia (CP’AC). Jointly funded by the Catalonia Region and the European Regional Development Fund, the organisation provides a matchmaking service between business owners, who want to sell on their business, and entrepreneurs, who want to take over a business.

The Reempresa website and the centres themselves – located in cities throughout Catalonia (Barcelona, Terrassa, Tarragona, Girona and Lleida) – advertise businesses that are for sale. It also provides support to the owners and the entrepreneurs on the business transfer process. Entrepreneurs, in turn, can put their ideas and energy into making the business successful.

Reempresa also organises information programmes to highlight the benefits of its approach to companies seeking to divest their interests, and for potential ‘re-entrepreneurs’. These information programmes are clearly successful as, year on year, more business owners and entrepreneurs are choosing Reempresa.

A life-raft for companies and employees

Reempresa provides an alternative to the long and sometimes costly processes of winding down and creating companies. The business environment in Catalonia is more stable as a result. Additionally, this process leads to fewer redundancies as employees can continue working for the company under new ownership.

Reempresa’s Director, Albert Colomer i Espinet, spoke of the project’s success, “The Reempresa project has meant the creation of a structured and formal market in Catalonia for transferring businesses; a platform where one or more ‘re-entrepreneurs’ can access the property of an existing business bypassing the stage of creation. Since the service was launched in 2010-2011, we have ensured the continuity of more than 50 companies and 200 jobs.” These numbers are a clear indicator of the success of the project.

Total and EU funding

The project “Reempresa” had a total cost of EUR 1 700 000, with the EU’s Regional Development Fund contributing EUR 850 000 for the 2007 to 2013 programming period. The project was supported through the “Entrepreneurial Development and Innovation” priority of the Operational Programme “Catalonia”.