Software company Klippa ran into its international limits and was therefore sold by Yeelen Knegtering and his co-founders to Germany's SER Group. "Count on having to do about 70 percent of the sales process yourself.
After ten years of entrepreneurship, Yeelen Knegtering and his five co-founders decided to sell the Groningen-based Klippa to the German enterprise content management company SER Group. Although Klippa was still growing rapidly, they were looking for a partner with an international network and sufficient scale to enable further expansion.
Knegtering: "We were still growing strongly, but noticed that international growth would be difficult. If you want to open offices in countries like France or the United States, you come to a crossroads: either you do everything yourself, or you join a party that already has that in place. We chose the latter. SER Group has a worldwide office network and the desired scale. Why would we reinvent the wheel ourselves? Besides, if we had done it alone, it would have taken much longer.
Effortless integration
Based in Groningen Klippa also has offices in Amsterdam and in Brașov, Romania, a city considered an emerging outsourcing hub within the country. The business develops software and AI algorithms that help businesses automate administrative processes. Think of banks that have to check millions of documents due to compliance as part of"know your customer. Through automated processes, documents such as pay slips, passports and bank statements are processed for loans and mortgages, among other things. The business currently employs about 80 people.
A key advantage of working with a larger player is that Klippa's solutions can be easily integrated into those of SER Group, which serves large customers worldwide. 'SER Group has many enterprise customers, which we can now also serve well,' says Knegtering. 'Our software integrates seamlessly with their systems. At the same time, we continue to operate independently and also continue to acquire our own customers. That ensures that we can continue to grow autonomously. We actually follow a two-track policy.'
Since the acquisition in March 2025, therefore, little has changed in the way Klippa operates, and interference from Bonn - where SER Group has its headquarters - is limited. "We still have a lot of autonomy, especially in terms of product development.
Selling yourself
The sale to SER Group was not a foregone conclusion, by the way. Over the years, Klippa was approached several times for a takeover, but the business rejected those proposals each time in order to continue to grow independently. For this acquisition process, Klippa engaged EY as its financieel adviseur.
Kengtering: 'Together with EY we looked carefully at what suited us, but we quickly had a strong preference for SER Group. Ultimately, you are the one who has to sell yourself. EY structures such a deal, but you have to tell the story.' As legal adviser, Klippa engaged the specialized M&A firm De Breij. SER Group had legal assistance from CMS.
The acquisition means that Klippa's founders have now formally gone into paid employment, but that does not make them ex-entrepreneurs. 'We sold all our shares in Klippa, but at the same time we took a minority stake in SER Group. So we are far from planning to leave.'
Founders still active
One thing that makes Klippa's story special is that all six founders are still active within the company - three with business backgrounds and three as techies. "We regularly take a critical look at our role and discuss whether our position still fits with where we are. As long as we keep doing that, I don't see any problems,' says Knegtering. 'I am now CEO of Klippa, but maybe later I would like to do something else. That's all negotiable.'
The majority of SER Group's shares are held by private equity party TA Associates. Carlyle Group also still has a stake in the German business. Knegtering does not comment on the acquisition price because of agreements with SER Group, but he does let it be known that Klippa's revenue is now approaching 10 million euros.
Control over sales process
To entrepreneurs considering sell a business, Knegtering gives a clear lesson: know what your motives are. 'What do you want to achieve? Do you want financial freedom? Do you want to stop working, or just grow faster? Because if you no longer know why you are selling, you lose control of the process and end up on a path mapped out by someone else.'
He also emphasizes that a sales process takes a lot of time and energy, something that can come at the expense of running the company itself. 'Count on having to do about 70 percent of the process yourself. That takes time, so make sure your organization is prepared for that.
