01 / Setup
GmbH incorporation or acquisition
Share capital, notary, commercial register (Handelsregister), trade registration, VAT ID and tax number. Acquiring a shelf company is the alternative where time to market matters more.
Module 1 of the plug-and-play solution
A German legal entity and management — able to act in eight weeks.
Instead of a subsidiary carrying a six-figure sunk-cost risk, or a distributor that leaves you without a contracting party of your own: a client GmbH under MEX management. The GmbH is the German limited liability company — and yours deals with authorities, banks and hospitals in German, from a German address, from day one.
- GmbH incorporation
- Bank account
- Bookkeeping
- Interim management
The problem
Two conventional routes fail structurally. The third one is new.
Entering the German hospital market from the US, Asia or another EU member state means one decision with a great deal of leverage — and both standard answers have structural weaknesses:
- Your own subsidiary: EUR 500k to 1.5m in the first year, 12 to 24 months before the entity can act, and a high sunk cost if the market does not carry the product.
- A classic distributor: no German GmbH, no German bank accounts, no bookkeeping of your own, and no direct contracting party for hospital procurement, vigilance and DRG billing — DRG being the diagnosis-related group system that governs what a German hospital is paid.
Between the two lies a third route: a German client GmbH under MEX management. Predictable, able to act in eight weeks, and without the sunk-cost drama when the pilot ends.
8 weeks Time to operational capability with a client GmbH under MEX management — until the first contracts can be signed
EUR 500k – 1.5m Initial investment for your own German subsidiary in the first year
0 Sunk cost on a clean exit — the GmbH can be liquidated or transferred
27 years Of running German client entities for foreign medical device manufacturers
The solution — Module 1
Four building blocks. One operating arm in Germany.
We incorporate or acquire the GmbH infrastructure your market entry requires and run it day to day — the German legal space in which Modules 2 to 7 operate.
02 / Banking
German bank accounts
Business accounts with established German banks, SEPA payments, direct debit and online banking — integrated into the ongoing bookkeeping.
03 / Accounting
Bookkeeping & tax
Monthly VAT returns, annual financial statements, balance sheet and, if required, payroll. Reporting in the format your head office works with.
04 / Leadership
Day-to-day management
MEX provides one or two managing directors for the client GmbH, representing you before authorities, banks, contracting partners and hospitals.
05 / Compliance
Compliance & fiduciary duties
Anti-money-laundering rules, data protection and company-law duties of care — everything a German limited company has to meet.
06 / Transition
Handover to your own subsidiary
After a pilot of 24 to 36 months we hand the entity, the banking relationships and the running contracts over to your own subsidiary without interruption.
Where we differ
Why not your own subsidiary or a classic distributor?
Three ways to build a German legal and contractual structure. The differences are structural, not cosmetic.
| Aspect | Own subsidiary / distributor | Client GmbH with MEX |
|---|---|---|
| Initial investment | EUR 500k – 1.5m (subsidiary) / commission model (distributor) | A predictable fixed price for the pilot |
| Time to operational capability | 12–24 months (subsidiary) / immediate, but no German entity (distributor) | 8 weeks — contracts can be signed, the account is live |
| Day-to-day management | You recruit a country manager for DACH | MEX provides managing directors with 27 years in German MedTech |
| Contracting party for hospital procurement | Only once the structure exists | From day one — the client GmbH signs |
| Sunk cost if you withdraw | High (subsidiary) / low, but no market asset either (distributor) | Low, and the listings stay the client’s property |
Heads this module
Jörg Saborowski
Founder and managing director of MEX Agency of Medical Experts GmbH since 1999. 27 years of running German client entities for foreign medical device manufacturers, and before that Managing Director Central Europe at Sherwood Davis & Geck. He led the Zassi bowel management roadmap (clinical trial at Göttingen University Hospital in 2002, sale to Hollister in 2008) as managing director of the client entity.
A German client entity is not a mailbox service. It is the contractual space in which market entry actually takes place.
Do you need a German legal entity — without the full sunk cost of your own subsidiary?
In 30 minutes we work through whether a client GmbH under MEX management is the right route for your pilot — and what a later handover to your own subsidiary would look like.
Request a market entry assessment Frequently asked questions
What clients usually want to clarify.
- Who owns the client GmbH — we or MEX?
- As a rule you, the foreign manufacturer, are the sole shareholder. MEX provides the management and the operating infrastructure. Control and ownership stay with you at all times.
- What does a handover to our own German subsidiary look like?
- We hand over the entity, the banking relationships, the contracts and the accumulated hospital knowledge. You take over the management internally, and MEX stays on in a transitional role — typically for three to six months.
- What happens if the German market does not work out?
- We wind the entity up cleanly: liquidation, termination of contracts, final tax filings. The sunk cost is markedly lower than with your own subsidiary and its staff and infrastructure.