Tea with Reason: Family Business Succession & Strategic M&A Opportunities

Event Partners

Growth and Exit Paths with UK and EU Perspectives

Family businesses are the backbone of Slovenian entrepreneurship, representing over 80 percent of Slovenian companies. Most are small and locally oriented, yet a few have grown into European, or even global businesses. Many have been operating for decades, around a third are already led by the second generation, while only 12 percent of them have ever exceeded €4 million in revenues.

At this Tea with Reason, we will discuss the strategic choices family businesses face as they plan their next phase of growth. Some are focused on continuing to grow and handing the business over to the next generation. Others are considering bringing in strategic or financial partners, pursuing M&A to scale or consolidate, selling the business, or stepping back through a partial or full exit. While for others, preparing for capital markets and an IPO could be part of the long-term strategy to support growth, liquidity, and generational transition.

Focusing on the legal, tax, financial, and governance implications, we will look at how family-owned businesses can preserve the strengths of family ownership while professionalising governance, aligning with investors, and balancing control with access to capital, whether through private transactions or public markets.

We will hear directly from successful Slovenian family businesses reflecting on the decisions they faced, the trade-offs they made, and the lessons learned along the way. But that is not all! We will also be joined by special guests from the UK, who will share their perspectives and experience from working with family businesses across different stages of growth, succession, and strategic transactions.

Program:

8:30 – 9:00 | Registration and Networking

9:00 – 9:10 | Opening Remarks

9:10 – 9:30 | Keynote Speech

9:30 – 10:30 | Family Business Growth and Exit Paths with UK and EU Perspectives

• Maja Brelih Lotrič, CEO of Lotrič Meroslovje

• Dr Allan Discua Cruz, Senior Lecturer, Director of the Centre for Family Business at Lancaster University Management School

• Andrej Fajfar, Managing Partner at Aeon Digital Group

• Ivan Kovačev, Director of the Investment Banking Department at InterCapital

• Irena Lemut Čeh, Founder and Owner of Labena Group

• Bojan Šporar, Managing Partner at Law Firm Rojs, Peljhan, Prelesnik & Partners

• Luka Vesnaver, Managing Partner at ION Advisory

• Miha Žerko, President of the Management Board of SRC

Moderated by Jože Stare, Senior Associate at Law Firm Rojs, Peljhan, Prelesnik & Partners

Attendance at the event is free of charge; however, advance registration via this link is required. Cancellations are free of charge up to 24 hours before the event. If you are unable to attend and fail to notify us by the deadline at info@bscc.si or events@bscc.si, a no-show fee of EUR 50 + VAT will apply.