Open Access

Diese Arbeit dient dazu, die Angebots,- und Nachfrageseite von Private-Equity detaillierter zu beleuchten. Basierend auf den negativen Assoziationen durch die „Heuschrecken“- Debatte und neuer Supertrend, soll dies objektiv in einen neuen, zeitgerechten Kontext gebracht werden. Denn sowohl die Anbieter von Private Equity als auch die Nachfrager verfolgen bestimmte Ziele, haben gegebenenfalls differierende Interessen und können nicht nur auf einzelne Aktivitäten reduziert werden, wie diese in der Vergangenheit dargestellt wurden. Dazu werden die folgenden beiden Forschungsfragen gestellt: Wie sind die Aktivitäten von Anbietern und Nachfragern von Private Equity in einem neuzeitlichen Kontext zu bewerten? (1) und Welche Rolle können Privatanleger als potenzielle Investoren bei einer Private Equity- Transaktion einnehmen? (2) Um die Forschungsfragen zu beantworten, wurden Experteninterviews mit drei Mitarbeitern von Private Equity- Fondsgesellschaften geführt, welche ihre Expertise einbringen konnten. Im Rahmen einer qualitativen Inhaltsanalyse wurden die Ergebnisse erhoben und ausgewertet. Anhand der daraus erzielten Ergebnisse und mit Bezug auf die Forschungsfrage 1 konnte gezeigt werden, dass die Anbieter und Nachfrager nicht grundsätzlich als „Heuschrecken“ bezeichnet werden können, sondern weitere Aktivitäten deren Geschäftstätigkeiten beschreiben, die nicht Bestandteil der Diskussion um Franz Münteferings Aussage waren. Anhand der erzielten Ergebnisse und mit Bezug auf die Forschungsfrage 2 konnte gezeigt werden, dass Privatanleger durchaus eine Rolle hinsichtlich Private Equity einnehmen können, diese aber aufgrund von Restriktionen der Anlage und indirekter Partizipation nicht zwangsläufig in Frage kommen. The purpose of this paper is to shed more light on the supply and demand side of private equity. Based on the negative associations by the "Heuschrecken" deabtte and new super trend, this is to be brought objectively into a new, contemporary context. After all, both the providers of private equity and the demanders pursue certain goals, may have different interests, and cannot be reduced to individual activities only, as they have been presented in the past. To this end, the following two research questions are posed: How should activities providers and demanders of private equity be evaluated in a modern context? (2) and What role can private investors play as potential investors in a private equity transaction? (1) To answer the research questions, interviews with experts were conducted with three employees of private equity fund companies who were able to contribute their expertise. Within the framework of a qualitative content analysis, the results were collected and evaluated. On the basis of the results obtained and with reference to research question 1, it was possible to show that the providers and demanders cannot fundamentally be described as "Heuschrecken", but rather describe further determinants of their business activities that were not part of the discussion surrounding Franz Müntefering's statement. On the basis of the results obtained and with reference to research question 2, it could be shown that private investors can certainly play a role with regard to private equity, but that they are not necessarily eligible due to restrictions on investment and indirect participation.

The aim of this research is to provide a holistic overview of the influences on the intention to invest in the context of behavioral finance. For this purpose, a model was created in which the effects of the theory of planned behavior, financial risk propen-sity, and the self-determination theory on the intention to invest were examined. With the help of nine hypotheses, the significance of the relations within the model, as well as a mediation effect were analyzed. In order to test these hypotheses, a quantitative survey querying the above-mentioned possible factors and further questions about the participants' investment behavior was created and sent to all students at Furtwangen University. Results showed that all relations within the model were significant and that especially attitudes and financial risk propensity had a pronounced influence on the intention to invest. However, several variables for self-determination theory had to be eliminated to guarantee validity and reliability of the model. The findings of this study enable financial institutions, such as banks, to actively influence and en-courage customers to invest or to purposefully develop new investment products to gain additional customers.

In dieser Arbeit wird eine Analyse von Bewertungsverfahren durchgeführt. Das Ziel die- ser Untersuchung ist es, jene Bewertungsverfahren zu identifizieren, die für die Bewer- tung der hTRIUS GmbH, einem Start-up, am geeignetsten sind. Diese qualitative Arbeit befasst sich nicht ausschließlich mit dem theoretischen Hintergrund, sondern bezieht die praktische Unternehmensbewertung der hTRIUS GmbH sowie ein Experteninterview mit ein. Die Unternehmensbewertung von Start-ups ist zum einen stark von der Planung und zum anderen von der Unternehmensphase abhängig. Andere Faktoren wie ein Unterneh- mensverkauf spielen bei der Wahl des Bewertungsverfahrens ebenfalls eine große Rolle. Für die hTRIUS GmbH stellt sich das DCF-Verfahren als am geeignetsten heraus, jedoch weisen jegliche Bewertungsverfahren Schwachpunkte auf. Diese bestehen darin, dass Faktoren, die nicht in Form einer finanzwirtschaftlichen Kennzahl zu erfassen sind, bei der Unternehmenswertermittlung exkludiert werden. Demzufolge muss in der Zukunft eine Lösung gefunden werden, diese Werte ebenfalls in die Bewertung aufzunehmen.

The COVID-19 crisis in 2020 shook the whole world with an enormous impact on the global economy and every belonging area. Mergers and Acquisitions are an integral part of the corporate management used by companies to generate growth from outside the company. Even though mergers and acquisitions are likely to support company’s growth, it carries risks which can enhance in times of crisis. This scientific term paper aims to analyze the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on companies and their mergers and acquisitions. Using interviews with representatives from companies from different branches, the results show that the impact on the mergers and acquisitions activities have been marginal. Companies were able to handle negative impacts from the COVID-19 crisis due to different indicators of crisis resistance. As a result of this research, it proves that mergers and acquisitions do not react causally to business operations due to middle- to long-term orientation. According to experts, the COVID19 crisis did not carry negative impacts only. The crisis showed companies their grievances in digitalization and led to the implementation of more flexible forms of work. The results of this research are useful for companies to benchmark their level of crisis resistance in terms of further crisis.

This paper aims to evaluate the European Green Bond market's current state by analyzing the issuer countries, types, and sectors. Moreover, the impact of regulatory developments in the last two years on the market is analyzed. As a basis for discussion, both literature review and qualitative research in the form of a semi-structured interview were conducted. The interviews were held with four market experts to gain insight into the actual market's reaction to the EU Green Bond Standard and the upcoming EU Taxonomy. In detail, the following questions are answered: What is the current state of the European Green Bond Market? How many bonds are currently issued in Europe and in which countries? Which entities are the most active issuers, and to which sectors do they belong? What are the current developments with regards to regulations? How might upcoming regulations affect the market actors? The European green bond market made up 45% of the global market in 2019, dominated by Germany, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, and Italy. The market is still in its growth phase, with the amount issued nearly doubling each year. With the introduction of an EU Green Bond Standard, detailed standardization and framework is established. It will help issuers to overcome market barriers such as the risk of greenwashing and helps in identifying eligible projects. However, with the alignment of the EU GBS, an entity has to align with the extensive EU Taxonomy as well, which represents entry barriers to else willing corporations. Whether an activity counts as green or not based on thresholds is defined by the classification of economic activities. The thresholds are heavily discussed in the market as either too high and excluding whole sectors from the market or too low and not ambitious enough. The alignment with the EU GBS and thus with the EU Taxonomy is connected to various efforts. Nonetheless, it offers a great chance for the market by emphasizing the need for climate action. Through this, a strong green market can emerge and hopefully impacts the world positively.