Background information

The National Enterprise Exchange for Craft Enterprises is a national 'virtual' marketplace for buyers and sellers of enterprises created in 2000 by the Chambers of Craft Trades (Chambres des Métiers et de l'Artisanat). Their advisers assess the companies being sold and check information on the entrepreneur, the business, customers, equipment, human resources, financial results, the business environment and the reasons for the sale.

Content of measure

This instrument is specifically dedicated to the craft sector, mainly employers with fewer than 10 employees. This is a website run by the chambers of trade and crafts (CMA) for people who want to take over a business. They can indicate their department and activity on the site. Future buyers can thus obtain all the advertisements corresponding to their search criteria. The creation of their personal space allows them to be contacted directly by one of the advisers of the Chamber of Trades and Crafts, who will advise them throughout the process.

After an assessment, offers are published on the website. If a buyer is interested in an offer, the adviser organises the first meeting between the buyer and the seller. They also provide advice on the legal and financial aspects of the business in the transition phase and follow-up support in the transfer process by conducting a review after the first months of activity.

Use of measure

As of 12 June 2020, the web site published 5,803 offers of SMEs for sale. No precise information is available about the number of offers which have been successful, but the web site mentions that the measure supports the transfer of about 30,000 businesses each year out of 40,000 available offers.

One of the strenth of the scheme is that the seller has the opportunity to disseminate her/his offer across France by preserving the confidentiality of the assessment carried out by the advisers as well as the identity of the seller. The simplified search tool allows the buyer to select companies on sale by industry sector and geographic area. Advanced research requires more precise criteria: keywords, company size, type of items sold, and selling price. The offers are reliable as they have been assessed by advisers from the Chamber of Craft Trades. 

A package of services is proposed, including advice to both buyers and sellers, assessment of the sold business, publication of the offers and assistance to the parties involved during the sale and follow-up support for the buyer during the first months after the sale. To avail of these services, sellers are required to register to the local chamber of craft trades and pay some reduced fee. The services are however free of charge for buyers.

The website also provides with different resources to support buyers and sellers: handbooks, technical fiches, guides, videos, organisation of events, etc. These resources are made available thanks to the 'Réseau Transmettre et Reprendre' putting together eight different national bodies, all of them being involved in business transfer issues, including of course the APCMA.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	Applies to all businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government	European Funds National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Unknown	Unknown
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Unknown
• Main level of involvement: Unknown

Involvement

Unknown

Views and reactions

Unknown

Sources

• 03 October 2003: European Commission (2003), Helping the transfer of businesses: A ‘good practice guide’ of measures for supporting the transfer of businesses to new ownership, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg (ec.europa.eu)
• 01 July 2009: Guide du cédant au repreneur (2018) (entreprendre.artisanat.fr)
• 18 November 2022: Bourse Nationale des créateurs, des repreneurs , des cédants pour entreprendre dans l'artisanat website (entreprendre.artisanat.fr)