Dealmaking at the kitchen table.
How often do you experience signing a sales contract between two family businesses at the kitchen table? I recently experienced it with the sale of Victoria Van Heeswijk to Fransen Gerrits, two wonderful family businesses.
We meet in the family home. The meetings in which I was involved as a merger and acquisition consultant is a feast of recognition. The companies know each other over several generations and are only 5 kilometers apart. They serve the pig and cattle market. With a combined turnover of 200 million, the new combination Fransen Gerrits – Victoria Van Heeswijk forms a powerful party in the South of the country and by merging they can achieve the desired increase in scale. This is necessary in the current market in which the cattle farms are becoming larger and the customer requirements more and more specific.
For me, the sale of Victoria van Heeswijk is a beautiful process: both to tightly manage the sales process for the selling family and to respect the typical characteristics of a family business. I continue to find it fascinating to be involved in both the business and personal side of a transaction. Lots of consultation at the kitchen table, with all members of the family. And also tactics with the buyers in the process.
Because the buyer in this process is also a family business, everything goes faster. There is trust. The companies know each other over several generations. The buyer can act efficiently and decisively because of the short lines in the company.
Family businesses are the winners these days
What is clear is that in a process where quick action is needed, a family business with a no nonsense approach has an advantage in this day and age. Especially with a strong financing structure and a bank that acts quickly.
Maarten Vijverberg, Partner Clifton Finance
