What if you start a business with a friend, because you believe there is a better and more fun way of doing so, but the company grows so fast that you need to become a ‘real manager’ – and then your friend decides to move to his wife’s homeland? Then what?

Daan van Deutekom and Daan Meurs left HP in 2009, to start up D-Two. As IT life cycle process service providers, they did not want to focus on maximising profit – instead, they wanted to make a social impact by hiring people with occupational disabilities. This proved a winning formula. In over ten years’ time, D-Two grew into a business with 20 employees. They service companies and organisations in everything IT hardware related, with reuse of IT hardware as a special focus. Customers receive a fair price for their used IT hardware and D-Two takes care of safely removing all data and a giving hardware a new lease of life.

Pre-exit

The growth of D-Two and the many opportunities, as well as personal circumstances, made both Daans realise the time had come to join a partner. With this pre-exit both Daans keep a share interest in the new group and can shift their focus back to their passion at D-Two.

Daan van Deutekom: “With pleasure, we have built the company into what it is today, together with our people. However, for further growth and professionalisation, different capacities are required.” Daan Meurs adds: “Growth is not a purpose in itself, but stagnation means decline. We see huge opportunities for D-Two in joining Dutch IT Services Group. And we are looking forward to taking the next step with them.”

The Dutch IT Services Group was established by investor MG Partners, together with Maaike Dekkers. The common goal is to enable more reuse of hardware and help more people with occupational disabilities get long-term jobs. The new co-owner will focus on further professionalising the organisation and promote cross-pollination among the companies in the Dutch IT Services Group.

Marktlink’s role

Willem Mulder and Marco van der Meer of Marktlink Mergers & Acquisitions guided the acquisition from start to finish. The process started with strategy, drawing up an Information Memorandum and approaching potential buyers. After ten management meetings, negotiations, due diligence and drawing up the contracts, the transaction was finalised successfully with the legal transfer.

Willem Mulder: ”The outbreak of COVID-19 turned it into a challenging process. Sales through its own webshop Daans Magazijn went through the roof, but on-site services were postponed at the request of customers. That made some potential buyers nervous. MG partners and Maaike Dekkers , however, saw the potential of D-Two right away. And, no less important, the Daans immediately clicked with MG Partners and Maaike Dekkers. Together, they will expand D-Two, while both Daans will gradually step back from their management tasks.”

In the words of the client:

“After a pleasant first meeting, Marktlink took us by the hand into the unknown world of mergers and acquisitions. Following a clear plan, Willem Mulder and Marco van der Meer sincerely strived to get a deeper understanding of our business concept, and put a number of good candidates forward, based on the right considerations for us. In the closing stage, Marktlink clearly took the lead as well, and achieved a successful end result.”