This is how Stefan Pompe bought freight forwarder Ferliner through Brookz

Stefan Pompe was looking for a transportation company to take over. He responded to a sales profile on Brookz, which was viewed 527 times and generated 24 responses. Five months later, the deal was done and he owned a specialty freight forwarder.

Why did you want to buy a business?
"In 2018 I exited as co-founder of SeaWorks, a specialist in maritime transport of project cargoes. Then I had entered as an investor in a startup that provides artificial intelligence software to the maritime sector, but that is still a completely different world. That's why I wanted to buy back into a business in the field of transport, logistics and/or trade.

How did you end up at Brookz?
'First of all, I consulted my network to find out what the process of a business acquisition actually looks like. In that search, the name 'Brookz' came up a number of times as a platform to gather information about the process, but also as an ideal starting point to see what businesses are currently for sale.'

How did the buying process go?
"When I had just heard about Brookz, I looked at an awful lot of businesses in your database. Eventually I responded to two sales profiles, including a freight forwarder. The entrepreneur who wanted to sell that business had hired an acquisition consultant. Through them I received the information memorandum, after which I quickly realized that this business would be a good fit for me. An initial exploratory meeting with the acquisition advisor followed, and in the second meeting I met the then owner. From that moment on it went fast, because we both felt a click. On top of that, the owner did not want to sell the business to a strategic party, but to an entrepreneur who could take the business to the next level. On July 9 I responded to the sales profile and on December 16 we signed the Ferliner purchase agreement. When two parties really want it, you can reach a deal quickly.'

How did you determine the value and price?
"We determined the value using a multiple times the ebitda. With that, two-thirds of the price was a fixed purchase price and one-third of the price converted into an earn-out over the next few years. The former owner stayed on for three months to ensure a proper transfer and is now involved as an adviser in the background.'

Do you have any tips for other buying entrepreneurs?
"Take your time with it. Especially if you are not familiar with the process of buying a business. What also helped me a lot is my network, because you come across things in the process that you are not familiar with. Then it's good to spar with experts in your network. Or engage an adviser, if only to play the good guy, bad guy game at the negotiating table.

This is what the sales profile on Brookz that Stefan responded to looked like:

Freight forwarder with sector focus specializing in road freight transportation