1,525 German company insolvencies in August — fewer cases, but markedly bigger ones

1,525 insolvencies of partnerships and corporations, 10% below July: taken alone, that is an easing. The gap to the pre-Covid level, however, is still 63%, and the figure is 9% above August 2025. The decline moves within a persistently elevated level, not below it.

The second figure matters more. Jobs affected by large insolvencies — which the IWH treats as a good approximation of the total — rose in August to more than 16,000: 21% above July, 33% above the same month last year, and more than double (+103%) an average pre-pandemic August. Fewer proceedings, but materially bigger companies inside them.

Steffen Müller, head of insolvency research at the IWH, frames it himself: after the absolute record levels of recent months, August's fall in insolvency numbers is "a breather rather than an all-clear". For buyers the shift is in fact favourable. Larger units are more likely to have a viable core — machinery, customer contracts, functioning teams, brands — and that is exactly where a going-concern sale makes sense. In a month of few but large cases, the hit rate per proceeding reviewed is higher, not lower.

The IWH tracks leading indicators that typically run two to three months ahead of actual insolvency activity. They stood high in June and July, and came in lower in August — the first softening in that series for months, and one that changes nothing in the near term.

The reason is the mechanics. What reaches the courts today was triggered two to three months ago. Because June and July were high, the IWH explicitly expects high insolvency numbers again in October and November 2026. August's lower reading affects the turn of the year at the earliest.

Two consequences for planning. Short term: Q4 supply is already baked in and will not shrink — organising financing, acquisition thesis and administrator contacts now means meeting a full market. Medium term: a single lower month is not a trend. The series has turned several times this year, and a genuine reversal would only be readable across two or three consecutive months.

Our pipeline holds 2,506 announcements concerning legal entities with an August 2026 publication date, covering 2,435 distinct companies (analysis as of 12 September 2026). An important qualification: an announcement is not a new insolvency — a case produces several publications over its life, and a final order (Schlussbeschluss) published in August belongs to a case opened in an earlier year. The figure is therefore not comparable with the IWH count; it answers how many matters were on the table for review this month.

By procedure type: 548 preliminary proceedings — where interested-party lists are forming right now. 498 opened standard insolvencies — classic asset-deal territory, where the administrator is actively looking for a going-concern solution. 503 self-administration (Eigenverwaltung) cases — proceedings where management restructures itself and often approaches investors directly. Plus 133 final orders, 9 Sachwalter notices and 812 matters whose procedure type is not yet classified.

The ratio of self-administration to standard insolvency is worth noting: in July it was 478 to 687, in August 503 to 498 — self-administration has essentially drawn level. That fits the IWH's size finding, because Eigenverwaltung is a procedure for companies with a working organisation and a management able to run the restructuring itself. For buyers it is the more investor-friendly setup: the counterpart is the management team, not the administrator alone, and the process is more often designed around an investor solution from the start.

Regionally, North Rhine-Westphalia leads with 511 announcements, followed by Bavaria (340), Baden-Württemberg (316), Lower Saxony (224), Hesse (222), Berlin (137) and Saxony (122). The order broadly follows the economic weight of each state.

August's 548 preliminary proceedings will be opened over the coming weeks. The best window for first contact with the administrator is typically weeks 2 to 6 after the opening order — for the August cohort, it starts now. What that outreach should look like is set out in our guide to contacting administrators; what you need ready before it, in the due-diligence checklist.

Because August produced above-average case sizes, the preparation shifts too. In a proceeding with a three-figure headcount, it is not the fastest phone call that decides the outcome but a credible proof of funds and an acquisition concept that prices in § 613a BGB from the outset. The groundwork is in transfer of undertaking in an asset deal and in financing an insolvency acquisition.

And because the IWH expects high numbers again in October and November, the work you put in now — buyer profile, financing, administrator contacts — is not aimed at August, but at a fourth quarter in which supply is more likely to grow than shrink.

Every proceeding counted here is researchable on our platform — with AI-enriched dossiers (register data, Federal Gazette accounts, web presence, administrator contact) and a match score against your buyer profile. Instead of scanning amtliche Insolvenzveröffentlichungen announcements by hand, you see each morning the cases that fit your search profile.

For every case, the Deal Playbook produces a concrete action plan: which assets matter, how the administrator approach should read, which deadlines are running. Whether a proceeding is heading for continuation at all can often be spotted early — the signals are in continuation or shutdown. For the previous month: the July figures.

The August cohort is live — filter by federal state, sector and procedural stage at /unternehmen.