News

Transeo is proud to announce the closing of one of its major deals thanks to Transeo Members Ben Koppenens (OvernameAdvies, the Netherlands) and Henry Ziff (Transworld Business Advisors UK, UK): the acquisition of “Liad Electronics B.V.” (based in the Netherlands), active in the electronics manufacturing services sector, by “EC Electronics Ldt.” (based in UK), which specialises in printed circuit board assemblies for high-tech customers who manufacture sophisticated electronic products.

“EC Electronics Ldt.” is a portfolio company of “Rockpool Investments”, a private equity firm dedicated to finding opportunities in the lower mid-market for individuals to invest in private companies.

During the Transeo Deal Club at the June 2023 Transeo Summit in Charleroi, Ben Koppenens (business broker with OvernameAdvies) presented the profile of the Dutch company looking to sell, and Henry Ziff (Managing Director of Transworld Business Advisors UK), knowing that “Rockpool Investments” was looking to expand its reach, discussed this opportunity with Ben at the Summit and then connected him to Rockpool.

“We sourced Liad Electronics during the 2023 Summer summit in Charleroi. We had a buyer / investor in mind immediately as the opportunity was presented during the Deal Club. It took about a week for us to speak with the private equity business (Rockpool) that owned EC Electronics the eventual acquirer, once we got back to the UK. We had a series of calls with the fund and the management team of the acquirer to frame the opportunity for them to further expand into Northern Europe. And after some tough negotiations we got through Due Diligence and legals and completed the deal in early 2024. We would never have found this opportunity without the Transeo Deal Club and delighted we did. Now we need to find more….”
(Henry Ziff, Managing Director of Transworld Business Advisors UK)

“The Transeo Deal Club was a small but important part in our successful brokerage of Dutch PCB Assembly Services provider Liad Electronics B.V. to the British buyer EC Electronics Ltd.”
(Ben Koppenens, business broker with OvernameAdvies)

The acquisition of “Liad Electronics”, whose operations will still be overseen by Managing Director Rick Meesters (who will be re-investing into the group and joining the Board), provides “EC Electronics Group” with greater presence in mainland Europe and further manufacturing capacity.

The deal was funded through a debt package from “Shawbrook Bank” alongside further funding from “Rockpool Investments”.

“EC Electronics” and “Rockpool” were advised on the deal by finnCap Group company “Cavendish” (debt advisory), global law firm “Taylor Wessing” (EC debt & equity legals), wealth management and professional services group “Evelyn Partners” (vendor financial and tax), corporate and tax law firm “Van Campen Liem” (Liad legals and Dutch tax), international firm “Accuracy” (Liad financial & commercial) and tax advisory and compliance practices “Claritas” (UK tax).

Shawbrook were advised by international law firm “Addleshaw Goddard” (legals).
Liad were advised by independent M&A specialist “OSCF” and consultancy firm “OvernameAdvies” (corporate finance), global law firm “Taylor Wessing NL” (legals) and independent tax consultancy firm “Atlas” (Tax).

“This transaction proves that dealmaking is all about trust and network; exactly the key drivers of Transeo Dealclub !”
(Martijn Westerlaken, Head of Transeo DealClub, Transeo Board Member, CEO MKBase)

“We are very proud of this achievement, and we’ll help Transeo keep growing by increasing the amount of Transeo members (new members each month, partnership with IBBA and M&A Source) and their expertise (knowledge, Transeo Summits, Transeo Academy)”
(Karl Adams, Transeo Chairman)

About Transeo

Transeo is an internatuonal non-profit association (“aisbl”) founded in 2010 by 3 international partners (Belgium, France, the Netherlands) upon the initiative of the Walloon government.

It’s a trusted international community of experts in transfers & acquisitions of businesses, no matter the type of transfer and with a focus on “small market” (deal value from €500.000 to 25.000.000), that stimulates and supports business transfer across borders.

Transeo gathers members from the private sector, the public and semi-public sector and the academic sector.

In April 2024, 98 organisations from 22 countries are part of Transeo.

About the Transeo Deal Club

The Transeo Deal Club is Transeo’s trusted community of business advisors helping their clients with international transfer and acquisition projects in the small business market by sharing cross-border & international opportunities: either buyers looking for a foreign target, or companies for sale looking for foreign investors.

This success underlines the importance of such a network for international transfers and acquisitions, giving M&A advisors a place to present both sell-side and buy-side profiles as well as to look for such opportunities for their clients.

About OvernameAdvies

As a consultancy firm, OvernameAdvies.nl focuses on the acquisition market of SME companies with a turnover of up to €25,000,000.

They offer guidance on acquisition processes at various service levels that match the size of the expected transaction and the desired service level of the customer. For transactions with a higher deal value, they are able to supervise a business sale from A to Z and fully relieve the entrepreneur. For lower deal values, they will make a proposal regarding their guidance in consulta􏰀on with the entrepreneur. Naturally, the interests of the entrepreneur always come first and they will always be involved in every step.

About Transworld Business Advisors UK

Transworld Business Advisors is the world leader in the marketing and sales of businesses, franchises and commercial real estate. Whether you represent an acquisition-minded corporation, or are personally interested in owning your own company, Transworld offers the professional services that successfully bring buyers and sellers together.

Transworld Business Advisors are the solution for company owners willing to sell their business and who need the assistance of a business broker to locate and vet potential buyers as well as for buyers who rely on the broker to help facilitate the process of evaluating potential businesses and franchises for sale.