A family office is a private structure dedicated to the wealth, financial and sometimes operational management of one or several high-net-worth families. It centralises services typically dispersed across multiple advisors — portfolio management, tax and succession planning, family governance, philanthropy, direct investments in private companies — under an integrated organisation serving the family exclusively.

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Two main types exist: the single family office (SFO), dedicated to a single family, generally above CHF 50–100 million in managed assets; and the multi-family office (MFO), which pools costs across several families and is accessible from CHF 5–10 million. French-speaking Switzerland — Geneva, Lausanne, Zurich — is one of the world's leading centres for family offices, thanks to legal stability, fiscal discretion and a density of specialised professionals.

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In the M&A and private equity context, family offices are first-tier institutional investors for business transfer transactions. They frequently co-invest alongside private equity funds in mid-market LBOs, take minority stakes in growing SMEs or acquire non-listed companies directly. Their investment horizon is generally longer than PE funds (7–15 years vs 4–7 years), making them attractive for sellers concerned about business continuity.

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Example: a Geneva family office managing CHF 400 million co-invests CHF 6.0 million alongside a regional fund in the MBO of a Franco-Swiss industrial SME at CHF 18.0 million EV. It takes 25% of the capital with veto rights on strategic decisions — and benefits from the Swiss participation relief on dividends received.

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At Hectelion, we regularly work with family offices in valuation, due diligence and investment structuring mandates involving Franco-Swiss SMEs.