Bachelor Thesis from the year 2006 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 1,0, University of Hull, language: English, abstract: It is a desire of many managers to lead a company not on behalf of others, but as an independent manager and owner. A Buy-Out can make this possible. It is usually an exciting, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for managers to own a significant stake in their business. Thereby they can work as entrepreneurs on own risk and make substantial decisions personally. However it can also be a major distraction, because managers must resolve many important issues regarding the structure of the transaction and the raising of funds, while attending to the normal running of the business. The main objective of this work is to obtain a comprehensive overview of theoretical (literature review) and practical (case study analysis) success factors for Buy-Outs. In the first part different Buy-Out forms are defined and distinguished from each other regarding their special features. Afterwards the recent development of Buy-Out financings in the UK and in Europe is analysed, whereby the main focus is on the German market. The second part is concerned with the structure and substantial elements of a Buy-Out. Here the process and the elements of the financing structure as well as the involved persons and their motives are highlighted. The third and main part summarises the critical success factors for management and financial investor using a checklist for success. Hereupon the results from the case study analysis of VITALIS Ltd. are presented containing the four key success factors for their Management Buy-Out.