Contacting the insolvency administrator: a guide for serious buyers

The wrong moment is the week of insolvency opening — the administrator has just taken over, is sorting assets and communicating with courts and employees. Anyone who calls in week 1 looks like a vulture.

The right moment is weeks 2 through 6 after the opening decision. By then the administrator has structure, knows which assets exist and is interested in structured buyers.

During preliminary measures (provisional administrator) it's tricky — the administrator isn't allowed to sell yet. But he collects interest lists for the post-opening phase. A clean first contact here positions you for the later process.

In Eigenverwaltung you usually talk with the debtor or their CRO, not the supervisor. The supervisor enters when the contract is closed.

Administrators run heavy paper trails. The first email lands in the secretariat, is triaged, then escalated. Cold calls almost never work — except on very small cases where the administrator still picks up the phone himself.

Standard path: short email (max. 8 sentences) with the core facts. If reply comes: structured first meeting (phone or video), 30–45 minutes. Then NDA, data room, offer.

Exception: on very time-critical cases (preliminary measures with operational cash burn) a direct call is justified. But only if you can actually offer within 48 hours.

Subject: Acquisition interest [company name] / [case number] / [buyer short name]

„Dear Ms./Mr. [last name],

we are [your firm / your role], [one-sentence positioning — e.g. „a family office focused on mid-market trading businesses in DACH” or „a search fund in e-commerce”].

We noted the insolvency announcement for [company name] (case [case number]) and are interested in acquiring the [assets: brand, inventory, customer base / online shop and domain / staff and location].

Our parameters: equity in the [magnitude, e.g. „low seven figures”], financing cleared, acquisition structures familiar. We could provide a solid price indication within [timeframe, e.g. „four weeks”].

We are available on short notice for a 30-minute first meeting. May I propose two dates for next week?

Kind regards, [name] [role] [contact details]

No question catalogue: „Could you please send me revenue, EBIT, staff count, contracts?” — Answer: no. These data come in the data room after NDA. Anyone asking questions in the first contact signals they have no idea what they want to buy.

No long firm presentations: The administrator cares about three things: (a) Are you serious? (b) What do you want to acquire? (c) What is your time and price range? Everything else is noise.

No „acquisition price idea: EUR 100”: cheap references to low prices come across as disrespectful. Even if you honestly believe the deal is peanuts — don't say it in the first outreach.

No name-dropping without substance: „We work with KPMG” — the administrator will probe. If you don't have a real advisory relationship, drop it.

No bundling with other cases: „We're also interested in Case X and Case Y, are you involved there too?” — separate emails, separate outreaches.

Track record: If you've closed deals, mention the last one (size, sector). „Last acquisition: fashion online shop with ~EUR 2m annual revenue from comparable process, 2025.”

Financing cleared: „Bank confirmation on hand” or „equity demonstrable via [reference account/fund]”. No „we'll see how we finance it”.

Team lined up: „Insolvency counsel ([law firm X]) and tax advisor ([firm Y]) activated for the deal.” An administrator who sees a team standing takes you much more seriously.

Clear deal structure: „We're thinking of an asset deal based on brand [X] and inventory, staff under §613a.” That single line saves 6 weeks of ping-pong.

In well-organised firms: 3–5 business days. Overloaded administrators (typical after large-corporate insolvencies): 2–3 weeks. Small regular cases: sometimes never.

If no reaction after 10 business days, a polite follow-up „I wanted to briefly check in in case the first email got filtered” is completely legitimate. After that: focus on other deals. Don't insist.

Important: response time is NOT a signal of deal quality. Some of the best deals come from overloaded firms where you wait three weeks for the first reply, then close to LoI in two.

The administrator is not a „salesperson” in the classic sense. He has a statutory mandate: monetisation in the creditors' interest. Treat him as specialised counsel, not as a vendor.

„Dear Ms. [last name]” — always. First names only if explicitly offered. First-name basis only after closing and in certain firm cultures.

Use technical terms correctly. If you use „insolvency estate”, „administrator consent”, „avoidance risk”, „§613a” correctly, you signal competence. If you use them wrong, you signal the opposite.

Critical questions are welcome if precise. „What is the legal status of consignment inventory?” is a good question. „What about the contracts?” is a bad question.

Classic sequence: first meeting → NDA → data room → written offer (Letter of Intent or direct price indication).

For the price indication: range, not point. „We see the target assets' value in the [X to Y] EUR range — subject to clarifying brand, inventory condition, staff transfer.” Concrete numbers only after completed DD.

Timeline: „Assuming deal materialises we plan signing in 4 weeks, closing in 8 weeks.” Administrators love clear timelines.

Payment structure: „100 % cash at closing” is always the strongest proposal. Seller loans or earn-outs are difficult in insolvency because creditors want money now — not in three years.