ALcontrol Laboratories
Gerard Baalhuis
Acquisition of food and environmental testing activities of
Biochem Group by Yes/Alcontrol Laboratories
When Gerard Baalhuis became director of ALcontrol, an
environmental analysis organisation, in 1992 he had no idea that
acquisitions would be his life for the next 13 years. Nor could
he predict that his company would change hands no less than
three times during that same period. Maarten Wolleswinkel was
closely involved in many of those deals. `That was some real
teamwork, the two of us,' gushes Baalhuis. `At the end of the
day it was as if he were working for ALcontrol, and I for Holland
Corporate Finance.'
By the end it was as if he was an employee of
ALcontrol, and I could have been working for
Holland Corporate Finance
Within a year at ALcontrol, Baalhuis had already been engaged
in a management buy-out and was sold to British Yorkshire
Water. New Dutch environmental legislation in those years
transformed the environmental laboratories. `The traditional
workingmethodsbecameautomated.Efficiencywasonasharp
rise. The Dutch labs became European leaders in those years
in fact they still are.' Such changes also ignited a price war.
After a thorough reorganisation, ALcontrol became one of
the leading labs in the Netherlands. `The lights were always on.
We had a huge workspace which housed fully automated and
digitised production lines. We were capable of receiving more
than 1,500 samples for analysis a day and getting results back to
clients within a 24-hour turnaround.'
Making it work
In 1998, Baalhuis was appointed director of the ALcontrol Group,
which included both Dutch and British labs. His task was to
make the business grow and develop like never before.
Baalhuis attempted a takeover of Laboratorium Van der Sprong
but failed and wasn't happy with his advisors. Soon after
however, Baalhuis discovered the best opportunity of his
career: Biochem, his largest rival in the Dutch market. This
time he invited Maarten Wolleswinkel, whom he had met during
the sale of the Van der Sprong laboratory, as his advisor. `That
worked. We were both still young, energetic and busy building
up our companies.' Nevertheless, the bid once again seemed
doomed. `They rang me up the evening before I went on holiday.
The deal was off: the Biochem owners couldn't agree among
themselves. During his absence Maarten Wolleswinkel came up
with the idea of buying all of Biochem. `Of course that was totally
beyond our reach, but it did get us talking again. Apparently
our timing was spot on Maarten speculated that their wives
had probably already spent the money three times over and
this time we were successful.'
Their wives had probably already spent the money
three times over
Baalhuis reminisces about the deal with pride. `The timing was
perfect and strategically it was sound. Now that the price war
was over, the power of our concept really came to the fore. Volume
is the name of the game. Ninety per cent of the turnover on every
extrasamplecomesbackasprofit.'Otherdealsfollowed.The
internal labs of Fugro and Royal Haskoning were successfully
targeted, and, via Holland Corporate Finance, the Swedish KM
Lab and Svelab were both bought. Baalhuis also added labs in
the UK and France to his portfolio. However, ALcontrol remained
too small within Yorkshire Water, which was the reason to sell
off the group in 2000. Among many private equity parties,
Bridgepoint, advised by Maarten Wolleswinkel, came out on top.
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