Foreword Maarten Wolleswinkel
This publication follows the fifteenth anniversary of Holland Corporate Finance. It sets out a representative sample of 200
deals we have done in that period, demonstrating our sector expertise and illustrating how we have made it to here. Since we
founded the company, Holland Corporate Finance has become one of the biggest consultancies in the Netherlands for mergers,
takeovers, buyouts, disposals and corporate finance, with a focus on deals between 5 and 500 million euros. Our success is
based on the ability to act quickly and on an ethos of mutual respect.
Many years of hard work have propelled our business into the major league of Dutch investment banks. Thanks to my fellow
partners Robert Boersma and Marc van de Put we have been able to grow our Mid Cap Advisory practice with more than
25 dedicated investment bankers. Adse de Kock and his team have managed to profile our Small Cap Advisory as the best
execution house for entrepreneur owned companies. And last but not least, two very experienced bankers, Bas Stoetzer and
Robert Verwoerd were able to build our Debt Advisory business from scratch into a highly regarded knowledge centre for large
MBO's and complex restructurings.
Most of our deals involve parties from outside of the Netherlands. Last year I was elected as president of M&A International,
the world's premier international alliance of investment banking firms. Being the president of M&A International and having
worked for more than twelve years with our 600 colleagues all over the World, we have built real, trusted and long lasting rela-
tionships with experienced dealmakers in all relevant geographies. This gives Holland Corporate Finance access to specialist
local knowledge in over forty countries round the world, hugely boosting our international deal-making potential. M&A Interna-
tional is the 10th player in Europe and the 16th worldwide after banks and auditors. I am confident that M&A International will
improve its position to the top 10 worldwide in the coming years.
M&A International members meet each other 2 to 4 times a year face to face (apart from projects related meetings) and once
every year we offer more than 100 international clients a platform to do the same by attending our highly successful Mid Mar-
ket Forum (www.midmarketforum.com). During this event clients can have up to 15 private meetings with our colleagues from
all over the world. That's what makes us really proud. Acting globally and thinking locally.
All the day-to-day routines at our firm are focused on delivering
value to our clients. When a deal is done we celebrate with our
clients that a period of six to twelve months of hard work has
finally paid off. We are always pleased to hear they appreci-
ated our dedication and professionalism. And we are honoured
if they tell us that they `enjoyed the bumpy ride', trusted our
advice and ... regard us as their friends.
The interviews in this book provide a selection of clients we
served in the last fifteen years. These stories illustrate their
emotions and experience round the M&A process. The bottom
line of each story is that an M&A process can best be qualified
as a roller coaster ride with ups and downs and even some
upside-down bits. The only comfort for our clients was that Hol-
land Corporate Finance had been on this roller coaster many
times before, although the track proved to be different every
time. Being entrepreneurs ourselves we enjoy working side by
side with our clients to gain the best results.
We are very proud of our team members and what they have
achieved. The following pages give them room to speak, along
with a cross-section of clients. At Holland Corporate Finance
we love what we do and we love our clients. These sound foun-
dations give us faith in the future.
Maarten Wolleswinkel, Managing Partner
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