What you can expect
The process
The process shows strong similarities to a regular sales process: preparation and execution are decisive. PE firms are professional, experienced counterparties, which usually makes the process smoother, but also demands sharpness at the negotiating table. In addition to valuation and guarantees, the shareholders' agreement deserves at least as much attention as the transaction documentation itself: it regulates control, decision-making, and exit scenarios, thereby determining how the cooperation works in practice.
Entry can be as a minority or majority shareholder, as the first institutional investor, through an add-on to an existing portfolio, as part of a management buy-out, or in preparation for a future exit from the PE portfolio. In every form, we selectively screen in advance which party fits both the company and the entrepreneur, negotiate to achieve maximum conditions, and guide the due diligence up to and including closing.
Why Maasdael?
The majority of our transactions have a PE component: not an exception, but the norm in our practice. We know the Dutch PE landscape inside out, know which parties operate hands-on and which steer from a distance, and our personal relationships with PE parties provide insight into their working methods and deal criteria.
Our approach is personal and no-nonsense: we put ourselves in the entrepreneur's position, so that the balance between business considerations and personal interests remains well guarded.
