Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A)

DPD – part of the French Groupe La Poste – is one of the largest logistics service providers of Europe. As part of an active buy & build strategy, DPD is continuously searching for (digital) innovations and complementary services for its customers.

BK Pharma Logistics and BK Sneltransport offer conditioned pharmaceutical transport for leading national and international companies in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry.

Chestnut advised DPD in the acquisition of BK Pharma Logistics and BK Sneltransport.

Portavita and MGRID are two medical ICT companies. Portavita provides ICT solutions for regionally organized screening, prevention and treatment of chronic diseases. MGRID provides business intelligence for large-scale data integration and self-service analytics environments.

CompuGroup Medical Nederland B.V. (CGM) is part of the German listed company CompuGroup Medical, Europe’s largest developer of primary care automation.

Chestnut advised the shareholders of Portavita and MGRID in the sale to CGM.

Tata Steel is one of Europe’s leading steel producers, with steelmaking in the UK and Netherlands, and manufacturing plants across Europe. The company supplies high-quality strip steel products to demanding markets such as construction, automotive, packaging and engineering. Tata Steel Netherlands (TSN) produces and delivers over 7 million tonnes of flat steel on an annual basis. TSN employs over 11.000 people, of which over 9.000 at the fully integrated site and value chain in IJmuiden. The Central Works Council (CWC) of TSN is tasked with providing advice to the company, for a.o. strategic decisions with a material impact on the employees of TSN.

Chestnut acted as exclusive financial advisor to the Central Works Council of Tata Steel Europe.

Smallsteps provides childcare services and is with over 250 childcare centres, one of the biggest childcare providers in the Netherlands. The Works Council of Smallsteps is (legally) tasked with providing advice to the company, for a.o. strategic decisions with a material impact on the employees of Smallsteps

Chestnut acted as exclusive financial advisor to the Works Council of Partou Kinderopvang & Smallsteps / KidsFoundation.

Founded in 2019, Payaut is an Amsterdam-based fintech that offers an automated payment solution for online marketplaces. Payaut functions as an intermediary between sellers and the different Payment Service Providers (PSPs) whereby marketplaces are no longer dependent on one single PSP.

The seed investment round was led by LocalGlobe, Entrée Capital and Finch Capital together with a group of angel investors with a strong background in the fintech industry (a.o. ex-Mollie and Adyen C-level executives).

Chestnut acted as financial advisor to Payaut in the fundraising process.

The Dutch is a premium 18 hole Inland Links golf course aimed primarily at corporate members. The Dutch was established in 2008 and has a par 71 Colin Montgomerie Signature Design golf course.

Chestnut advised the shareholders of The Dutch in various corporate finance related topics.

Bonarius specializes in the installation and maintenance of central heating systems for housing associations and commercial property managers. Bonarius manages more than 200,000 individual and 550 collective installations.

Chestnut assisted Bonarius in the transfer of part of the shares within the family to the current CEO and son of the owner of the company.

VVE NL manages c. 245 VVEs, parking associations and apartment cooperatives in and around Amsterdam. The company is involved in both new build and existing construction and arranges administrative, financial, technical and managerial issues. As an independent VVE manager, the company is independent of housing associations or brokers.

Chestnut has conducted a valuation analysis of the company on behalf of the shareholders.

Chordify is a fast-growing music edtech company that has developed proprietary technology to convert music into chords. On the Chordify platform, users can learn to play themselves by using the chords generated by Chordify. The business case is based on a freemium SaaS model.

Chestnut conducted the valuation analysis to support the company’s Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP).

Studytube is a fast-growing B2B edtech scale-up that offers companies and governments an advanced and integrated learning platform. With Studytube’s platform, organizations can manage and monitor their entire staff’s learning needs.

Verdane is a €3bn+ Scandinavian investment fund focused on €10-150m investments in European tech scale-ups.

Chestnut has assisted Studytube in the €10m investment round by Verdane.

Founded in 2019, Payaut is an Amsterdam-based fintech that offers an automated payment solution for online marketplaces. Payaut functions as an intermediary between sellers and the different Payment Service Providers (PSPs) whereby marketplaces are no longer dependent on one single PSP.

The pre-seed investment round was led by LocalGlobe and Finch Capital together with a group of angel investors.

Chestnut acted as financial advisor to Payaut in the fundraising process.

Smallsteps provides childcare services and is with over 250 childcare centres, one of the biggest childcare providers in the Netherlands. The Works Council of Smallsteps is (legally) tasked with providing advice to the company, for a.o. strategic decisions with a material impact on the employees of Smallsteps

Chestnut acted as exclusive financial advisor to the Works Council of Smallsteps during the request for advice from Smallsteps, regarding the acquisition of KidsFoundation Holdings (including Smallsteps) and Partou Kinderopvang by Onex and Waterland.

GoodFuels is a sustainable fuels pioneer and energy transition partner for the marine industry and heavy transportation. The biofuels from GoodFuels are immediately applicable as substitution for fossil fuels, thereby reducing CO₂ up to 90%. In addition GoodNRG introduces innovative sustainable products, services and business models on a regular basis.

Chestnut acted as exclusive financial advisor to the GoodNRG Group and its shareholders, resulting in the sale of the group to FinCo Fuel Group, a portfolio company of Coloured Finches.

Urban Arrow is a Dutch manufacturer of electronically driven cargo bikes that aims to be the frontrunner in urban mobility.

Chestnut acted as exclusive financial advisor to Urban Arrow and its shareholder, resulting in the sale of the company to Pon Bike (part of Pon Holdings), a substantial player in the bicycle market.

DatacenterNext is a full fledged Cloud Managed Service Provider, which manages its clients’ entire operational IT platform. Services include infrastructure and platform services, as well as designing the client’s IT transformational strategy.

Chestnut acted as exclusive financial advisor to DatacenterNext and its shareholder, resulting in the sale of the company to Strikwerda Investments, a family office investment firm founded in 2000.

e-Village is a leading email marketing agency in The Netherlands. With an inhouse developed state-of-the-art email marketing software (Clang) and a team of 70 email specialists, the company helps its clients to increase the effectiveness of marketing campagnes and customer contact moments.

Inspired Thinking Group (ITG) is a specialist marketing services and technology business that helps major brands and retailers improve the efficiency, speed, cost and control of their marketing operations. ITG employs almost 600 people and is headquartered in Birmingham, UK.

Chestnut acted as exclusive financial advisor to the management and shareholders of e-Village during the transaction, resulting in the sale of e-Village to ITG, a portfolio company of Equistone.

QTS Realty Trust, a stock exchange listed (NYSE) leading provider of software-defined and mega scale data center solutions, has acquired the two data centers of  TCN Datahotels. The asset deal comprises one data center in Eemshaven and one in Groningen, for a purchase price totaling USD 44m.

Chestnut acted as exclusive financial advisor to TCN’s management and other stakeholders, resulting in the sale of the two datacenters to QTS.

ARTTIC is a European market leader in consultancy and management services for research and technological development. With its long-standing experience in financing programs in various scientific and technological areas, ARTTIC assist her clients to move from strategic plans to effective competitive operations. The company has multiple offices in North-West Europe, with its headquarters located in Paris.

PNO offers a wide range of subsidy, innovation and compliance services and is strongly positioned in the sectors life sciences & health, energy, climate & environment. In the Netherlands, PNO is among others market leader in the area of R&D subsidies (WBSO-dienstverlening).

Chestnut acted as exclusive financial advisor to the management and shareholders of PNO in the transaction, resulting in the acquisition of ARTTIC.

Nimsys manages networks and provides internet, VoIP telecom and other IT services to renters of multi tenant buildings.

Chestnut advised the shareholders of Nimsys during the proces of selling Nimsys B.V. to a subsidiary of Gamma Communications PLC, a listed British telecom and internet provider.

Swagemakers Intermodaal Transport (Swagemakers) is an intermodal transport and logistics provider with ca. 30 – 40 employees, strategically located in the North Sea Port (Westdorpe). The Company has a strong footprint in bulk and liquid goods, with a long-standing client portfolio.

Chestnut acted as exclusive financial advisor to Swagemakers and its shareholder in the sales process resulting in the sale of a majority stake to Trimodal Container Terminal Terneuzen (3-MCT).

Graydon is a business information provider in the field of financial information, marketing information, risk & compliance and debt collection. The debt collection activities mainly comprise amicable and international debt collection services.

Chestnut acted as exclusive financial advisor to the management of Graydon in the sales process resulting in the sale of the Dutch debt collection activities to Ultimoo.

Smallsteps provides childcare services and is with 250 childcare centres, one of the biggest childcare providers in the Netherlands. The Works Council of Smallsteps is (legally) tasked with providing advice to the company, for a.o. strategic decisions with a material impact on the employees of Smallsteps

Chestnut acted as exclusive financial advisor to the Works Council of Smallsteps during the request for advice from Smallsteps, regarding the acquisition of Smallsteps by Onex. Onex is a reputable listed (Toronto Stock Exchange) Canadian private equity firm with over $32 billion of assets under management.

Lumat is a leading distributor of high tenacity yarns, such as Polyester, Polyamide, Aramid and Synthetic continuous filament yarns that are used in ropes, strappings and fabrics. Over the last twenty years, Lumat has become the principal distributor of industrial yarns in Europe, Africa and the Americas.

Chestnut acted as exclusive financial advisor to the shareholders and management of Lumat in the sales process resulting in the sale of Lumat to Active Capital Company.

Hedera Consulting, having its offices located in Belgium (HQ) and the Netherlands, is a consulting firm with its main focus on company advice and data analysis. The company serves clients in a.o. Italy, Switzerland, Scandinavia, the UK and the Middle-East. The company’s expertise include growth strategy, innovation, marketing, sales and customers service.

Chestnut acted as exclusive financial advisor to the shareholders of the Dutch entity in the sales process resulting in the sale of Hedera Consulting to Cognizant.

Golden Age Cheese Store (“GACS” and / or the “Company”) has developed a unique retail formula to sell cheese as souvenir package. The Company is located on 3 locations in city-centre of Amsterdam. Westland Kaas Groep (“WKG”) focuses on development, marketing and sales of (its own) branded cheese products. Two examples of its own cheese brands are Old Amsterdam and Maaslander.

Chestnut acted as exclusive financial advisor to Westland Kaas Groep with the preparation and acquisition of Golden Age Cheese Store.

Dynamic Credit is an alternative fixed income asset management firm that manages (securities of) loans of others and its own proprietary direct lending. In 2015, Dynamic Credit set up the first online mortgage distribution platform of the Netherlands (bijBouwe) and in June 2016 they launched the platform LoanClear, a marketplace for loan portfolios.

Chestnut acted as exclusive financial advisor to the shareholder and management of Dynamic Credit during the sale of a minority equity stake to Aegon, a leading financial services organization, providing life insurance, pensions and asset management.

Bridgevest is a SaaS and consultancy provider for the Wealth and Retirement Management sector and provides its clients – currently mainly pension funds – in-house developed software tools allowing them to make the step to a client-centric, technology focused and (big) data driven business model.

Chestnut acted as financial advisor to the shareholders and management resulting in the sale of their share capital to Keylane, a portfolio company of private equity firm Waterland.

Redbee focuses primarily on (managed) hosting activities, including PCI DSS compliant hosting, a security standard that is mandatory for creditcard service providers. The company is experienced in designing, building and managing secure and scalable environments. Fortytwo specializes in consultancy, management and audit activities in comparable segments as Redbee, mainly focused on security, networks and information architectures.

Chestnut acted as exclusive financial advisor to the shareholders of Fortytwo and Redbee in the sales process resulting in the acquisition of the companies by Internetservices , the leading IT & cloud services provider in the Netherlands.

Jan Snel provides a wide range of flexible, modular (semi-)permanent building solutions for a.o. industry applications, healthcare, education, student and refugee housing with a leading market position in the Benelux, next to its special-purpose transportation division.

Chestnut acted as exclusive financial advisor to the shareholders and management of Jan Snel during the sale of a majority equity stake to Parcom Capital, a leading mid-market private equity firm active in the Benelux.

A friend of mine (AFoM) is a digital agency engaged in social media marketing, specifically focused on Facebook advertising. AFoM realises Facebook campaigns for clients including Philips, Friesland Campina, Nationale Nederlanden and Hunkemöller from concept to execution. Second Degree (SD) is market leader in LinkedIn marketing in the Netherlands.

Chestnut acted as financial advisor to the shareholders of AFoM and SD resulting in the sale of their share capital to TamTam, a portfolio company of private equity firm Waterland.

Code P West (CPW) focuses on development and creation of assembled industrial products. These products are usually made of synthetic material, metal, fine sheet metal, precision engineering and electronics. In addition, the company produces and sells custom-made 3D printers.

Chestnut acted as exclusive financial advisor to CPW and its shareholders resulting in a Management Buy-Out (“MBO”) / sale of the Company to a private investor and management.

Digidentity provides end-to-end identity certification solutions for businesses and consumers that engage anywhere online. DDY’s high-assurance validation and authentication systems create secure environments for digital transactions across industries that include banking and insurance, transportation and logistics, government services, regulatory affairs, and electronic commerce.

Chestnut acted as exclusive financial advisor to the founding shareholder of DDY, resulting in a strategic sale to Solera (a global leader in data and software for automotive, home ownership and identity management), who has been a minority shareholder since 2010.

Poppers provides a wide range of fasteners (staples, collated nails & screws and metric fasteners) and related power tools to the construction, automotive, packaging and furniture industry.

Chestnut acted as exclusive financial advisor to the shareholders of Poppers during the sales process resulting in the acquisition of the company by Senco.