Brothers, creative entrepreneurs and online pioneers Ari and Meinard van Essen spent thirty years building Winparts, now the Dutch market leader in car parts for the (online) after-market. As they got older, they started thinking about the next phase of their lives and businesses.
Marktlink helped them determine the strategy for the next phase of growth. Jeroen Oldengarm, partner at Marktlink and manager of the deal team, talks about it:
If you want to exit your business as an entrepreneur, you have to think about many things. Very practically, for example, about your own plans after selling. But especially also about the future you wish for your business. Do you have a growth strategy in mind that feels right for you as an entrepreneur, that fits in with market developments and that is interesting for parties that are currently in the market? Then you can exert a great deal of influence on the future you envision for your business, especially during the sales phase.
Do you want to help build for growth or get out as soon as possible or immediately?
In addition to the role of acquisition facilitator, Marktlink also serves as a strategic adviser. Together we examine what wishes the entrepreneur has and how he envisions the future of the business. We have a broad discussion: do you want to stay and contribute to the growth, are you looking for management reinforcement in order to be able to pioneer again, or do you want to exit as soon as possible or immediately? Do you envision your business merging into a larger entity or is it essential that it remains independent? And what do you think is important for the employees? We also had this conversation with Ari and Meinard of Winparts.
Online pioneering
Their entrepreneurial story is special. Early on, the brothers firmly believed in the future of the Internet and got into online sales of auto parts. The first webshop - D-Parts - came online in 1994. The Internet was actually still in its infancy; it wasn't until 2004 that it really took off. Then they built one more new website - the super user-friendly Winparts.nl - and became the market leader.
Succession
In 2019, the enterprising brothers - then both approaching 60 years of age - started thinking about a future after Winparts. Their main focus was on what would be good for the business. There was no succession. However, the entrepreneurs had made themselves miserable; there was already a powerful management team in place to lead and continue the operation after the owners' exit.
They started a sales process in January 2020, together with Marktlink. With a very clear goal: to find a strong partner who could responsibly grow Winparts into a strong European player. There was a lot of interest from investors and strategic parties. We asked the entrepreneurs what would be the dream buyer for them. The answer: Alliance Automotive Group (AAG), the world's largest player in the automotive after-market.
Benefits for all
Discussions with AAG revealed serious interest. The market is consolidating and a partnership offers opportunities for both companies. Winparts is super strong online. Since AAG was not yet active in the online market, this strategic acquisition has enormous potential. At a stroke, it gives AAG an unprecedented amount of knowledge about a new sales channel. At the same time, the acquisition gives Winparts - through the scale of AAG - access to an even larger market. Also internationally. And access to AAG's high-quality logistics infrastructure.
On May 4, 2021, the deal was clinched. This clever combination between an innovative SME and a solid multinational shows how a strategic acquisition can be extremely growth accelerating. By working together, these businesses can create a lot of added value and seize growth opportunities. And that applies to many businesses, in all kinds of sectors. With good entrepreneurship and a clear future vision for your business, you can gain a solid position and even join the big players!
