List of the 80 largest Holdings in Germany [2023]

List of the 5 largest holding companies in Germany

The sole purpose of a holding company is to hold interests in companies. Sometimes a holding company forms a corporate umbrella, sometimes the construct is used to bundle family assets. Here are the 5 largest German holding companies.

1st place: Heraeus Holding GmbH, Hanau: 31.5 billion euros in revenue

Heraeus is a traditional Hanau-based company and family-owned technology group. The history of Heraeus dates back to the 17th century, and in 1985 Heraeus Holding was founded as the corporate umbrella. Below the holding company are five management companies for precious metals, dental materials, quartz glass, sensors and medical technology.

2nd place: RETHMANN SE & Co. KG, Selm: 15.8 billion euros in sales

RETHMANN started in 1934 as a freight forwarding company in Selm. Today, RETHMANN SE & Co. KG is the parent company of the three subgroups Remondis (recycling and water treatment), Rhenus (contract logistics, freight logistics and port logistics) and Saria (recycling of animal and plant residues). The RETHMANN Group is family-owned.

Update 2023: German food processor Saria is part of the RETHMANN Group and completed the acquisition of Devro, a Scottish producer of sausage skins, at the beginning of 2023. Saria’s range of services extends from the disposal and processing of food waste and animal by-products to the production of food and animal feed.

3rd place: maxingvest AG, Hamburg: 10.2 billion euros turnover

The Herz family of entrepreneurs is behind maxingvest. The management holding company owns 100 percent of the trading company Tchibo and a majority stake in the consumer goods manufacturer Beiersdorf with its subgroup tesa. 70 percent of sales are generated with Beiersdorf products, 30 percent with Tchibo. maxingvest is responsible for strategic management.

4th place: HGV Hamburger Gesellschaft für Vermögens- und Beteiligungsmanagement mbH, Hamburg: 5.1 billion euros in sales

HGV is the investment holding company of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. It bundles important shareholdings in companies operating in the fields of public transport, utilities and waste management, housing and urban development, as well as transport and logistics. The sole purpose of HGV is investment management.

5th place: Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH, Duisburg-Ruhrort: 3.1 billion euros in sales

Franz Haniel founded a trading house in Ruhrort in the 18th century – the origin of today’s Haniel conglomerate. Franz Haniel & Cie. is the corporate umbrella for more than 200 companies. These are grouped into six divisions (People, Planet, Progress, Transformation, Growth Capital). The group is owned by the founders’ descendants.

German holding companies are often active in several industries

We present the largest holding companies in Germany in our unique list. Holdings or holding companies are umbrella companies whose purpose is the administration or the capital participation in other companies. The largest holding company in Germany is Heraeus Holding GmbH from Hesse, Germany, with annual revenues of more than 22 billion euros in 2019. Heraeus Holding operates on several continents and in many different industries, such as telecommunications, packaging and interconnection technology, medical technology, etc.

Database of the largest German holdings as Excel-file

Our list of the largest holding companies in Germany is a unique overview of the companies with the highest sales in the industry – presented in a comprehensive Excel file. The data set is available for purchase via our online store and can be downloaded directly after purchase. Our list does not only contain the general contact information of the companies, but also contains the names of the current management as well as the revenue from the last five years. Our database saves you hours of research and you will be able to get started with your work immediately. Our research team updates the listed information on an ongoing basis, ensuring that you are always working with accurate and up-to-date data. Within one year of purchase, you will receive free updates via email. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us and we will be happy to support you with our data set of the largest holding companies in Germany.

This information is included in the product

• General contact details (address, e-mail address, telephone number, URL)
• Names of the management
• Sales for the years 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 and 2015 (based on the respective annual or consolidated financial statements via the Bundesanzeiger)
• Employee numbers (based on the most recent annual or consolidated financial statements via the Bundesanzeiger).

Note: If the sales and employee figures are not included in a company’s own annual financial statements but in their parent company’s consolidated financial statements, the data from the parent company will be provided.

Lead-generation made easy: Valuable data on Germany’s top-selling holding companies presented in an easy-to-understand data set

Why should you choose our list of the holding companies in Germany? There are many reasons. First of all, we work continuously and relentlessly on the data quality of our data sets. This guarantees that the information included is as up-to-date as possible and we ensure to always look for the companies with the highest sales. Many lead-generation databases often have outdated data and do not incorporate all relevant companies. Another benefit of our data sets is the clear, clean presentation as an Excel file. Industry overviews in pdf format are practical for certain purposes, but can neither be imported into a CRM system nor edited according to your needs. In addition, there is detailed information in our industry lists, which allows uncomplicated sorting and filtering according to your needs.

The list of the holding companies is an excerpt from our Germany-wide database.

Research Germany has the ambition to tranform fuzzy markets by creating transparent and accessible data sets. Our industry database is characterized by high-quality data and contemporariness. Our research team is constantly working on optimizing and expanding our database so that we can always provide our customers with the best possible data. At the center of our work is our list of the 5,000 companies with the highest turnover in Germany. We analyze the largest companies in the country, classify them according to industry and area of activity, and compile the sales and employee figures for the last few years. Thus, our customers can immediately start working with their list and establish new partnerships. Based on this database, not only our overview of the largest holding companies has been created, but also numerous other data sets of the German industry. In addition to our list of the largest holding companies in Germany we also offer various Germany-wide industry lists (e.g. dataset of the 400 largest mechanical engineering companies in Germany).
A large number of such data sets is available on our website and we will also be happy to create individual extracts for you. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us and we look forward to hearing from you.

Picture source: Unsplash (Sean Pollock), Unsplash (Stephen Dawson)