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Norma Buehling and Pia Surhoff, two highly experienced professionals with over 15 years of combined industry expertise, proudly stand as the inaugural female SF duo in Germany. Pia initiated her career at BCG, dedicating six years to the firm before transitioning to Invincible Brands, a DTC brand incubator. Following this, she joined Zalando in 2021, where she crossed paths with Norma Buehling, who had served there for six years, assuming various roles including directly collaborating with the company’s co-founders and CEOs as their Executive Project Manager. Intrigued by the SF model, the dynamic pair decided to unite forces and establish Thallo Unternehmensnachfolge.
They have assembled an accomplished group of entrepreneurs and investors. This impressive lineup includes individuals such as Alexander Kirn, Jürgen Rilling, Sabine Bendiek, William Thorndike, Lukas Matzinger, and Jan Woitschätzke as well as international institutions, including Alza Capital Partners, Ambit Partners, Istria Capital, and TTCER.
Thallo’s search will primarily concentrate on the German market. They estimate that more than 500,000 family-owned businesses will be seeking successors by the end of 2026, with over 150,000 potentially meeting the criteria for a SF. This provides a great opportunity to acquire lower-middle-market businesses. Leveraging their expertise, the duo’s primary sectors of interest include Software/IT, B2B Services, and B2B Distribution & Trade.
