Take 5 is a consulting firm that helps entrepreneurs with everything surrounding a business acquisition. On behalf of owner Leo Rijnberg, Ad van Poelje of Take 5 supervised the sale of Metaaltechniek Tholen. He placed the sales profile on Brookz, which was viewed 651 times and generated 21 responses.
What does the sold business do?
Ad van Poelje: 'Metaaltechniek Tholen specializes in machining steel, stainless steel and titanium, among other things. The modern premises house an almost fully computer-controlled machine park where work such as milling and boring of metals is carried out under the watchful eye of the skilled employees. The business employs 10 people and achieves an annual turnover of 1.5 million euros.'
Why did the owner want to sell a business?
'In 2007 Leo Rijnberg took over Metaaltechniek Tholen from the former owner and built the business into an established business in metal technology in the southern Netherlands. Leo really enjoyed being an entrepreneur, but had been thinking for some time about possibly selling his business, partly prompted by private circumstances.'
What kind of activities did you do for the owner?
'At Take 5, we work with a set protocol, divided into four phases. We always start by making an indicative valuation and gauge roughly how interested potential buyers are. Then we provide information and search for buyers. The next phase is negotiating and the fourth phase consists of the final transfer of ownership of the business. With Leo, we went through all these four stages.'
What is your experience with posting a sales profile on Brookz yourself?
'Posting a sales profile yourself is very easy, because all the information is already in the teaser we send to potentially interested buyers. In addition, we always try to fill out the sales profile as completely as possible, such as a detailed description and mentioning revenue and EBITDA. By providing good information you also increase the chances of a successful match.'
What is your experience with the number and quality of responses?
'We received more than 20 responses to the sales profile of Metaaltechniek Tholen, which we were very pleased with. In the end, we went to the next phase with six parties and held talks with several interested parties. We then negotiated with about two parties and finally chose to award exclusivity to one party, thus continuing the further detailed negotiations. I dare say that Brookz is an indispensable channel for us in searching and finding potential buyers. It really is a valuable addition to approaching our own network and other channels. For every business we put on the market, most leads come to us through Brookz.
Who is the final buyer and does it come from outside your network?
'The buyer became an industry peer outside our network who saw Metaaltechniek Tholen as a strategic addition to their own activities. During negotiations with this party, it was discussed that Leo would remain employed for a minimum of one year with a possible extension of another year in order to properly transfer all knowledge to the new owners and to properly guide the staff through this change. The beauty of this deal is that in the agreed deal structure, in addition to an amount up-front, the owner could and did earn an earn-out in two steps. A good deal is when a business is sold, but a nice deal is when buyer and seller are still satisfied with the transaction after a while.'
