APH Group

Wytse: "I founded the APH Group – a supplier of machinery and installations for agriculture – in 1997. We act as a dealer for several top brands in the industry and now have branches in ten countries.

My wife and I were co-shareholders, but at a certain point, my wife expressed a desire to stop. I, however, wanted to push forward, and additional capital was needed for that. This led to the idea of partially selling the company. This way, we could extract some of the capital from the business while simultaneously gaining access to additional resources to enable further growth.

I had known Rembrandt for a while; since 2012, I had been considering plans for a partial acquisition, but it turned out not to be the right time then. Now that we were ready for a partial sale, Rembrandt came back into the picture. From their network, Rembrandt introduced us to 365 Capital: a flexible and decisive private equity firm from Amsterdam. They turned out to be a perfect fit for us; we had and still have the same ideas about the future, and we also clicked well on a personal level. Ultimately, we sold 60 percent of the shares to them, and I remained a 40 percent shareholder.

Rembrandt supported us perfectly throughout the entire process. Look, we do have experience with large million-dollar deals. But a business acquisition involves other matters as well. It's a complex process with many specialized sub-processes. Determining our cash & debt-free position, for example, or the entire due diligence investigation. These are things you, as an entrepreneur, have never dealt with before. The same goes for various legal matters. It is then reassuring to have a specialized party like Rembrandt guiding you.

Ferdi Kramer proved to be an excellent sparring partner in all of this. He always gave honest advice, even when I sometimes leaned in a different direction. In certain decisions, he actually set me on a different course, and here and there, he also protected me from less wise choices. This is where such an external party truly proves its added value. Furthermore, I would like to note that the entire Rembrandt organization is of high quality, from the deal team to the back office. They put together the best team for each deal.

You only sell your company once. It's still your baby, and you want the very best for it. A sale involves all sorts of considerations; financial, but certainly also personal. Rembrandt understood our wishes well and guided us towards our goal: the perfect deal with the perfect partner."

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