After more than ten years of building a business in the regional staffing market, Luc Vaessen, founder of BaanTreffers, took a strategic step that secured the future of his company and his people. By joining Accres HR Solutions, BaanTreffers gained access to a broad national network, advanced technology and deeper HR expertise, while keeping its local identity and personal character.
The case in brief.
- Seller: Luc Vaessen, founder of BaanTreffers, for more than ten years a regional player in production and logistics staffing.
- Buyer: Accres HR Solutions.
- Why sell: growing regulatory pressure, compliance requirements and MSP constructions, and the wish to give the team and the agency workers certainty.
- Role of Exit in Flex: the full process on the seller's side, from valuation and information memorandum to buyer selection and negotiation.
- Outcome: completed within the planned timeline, at a valuation above Luc's expectations; all employees kept their positions.
The trigger: grow or get stuck.
Over a decade BaanTreffers had become a respected regional agency with strong relationships in production and logistics. But Luc saw what was coming. Rising regulation, heavier compliance demands and the growing dominance of MSP constructions made it steadily harder for independent regional players to stay competitive. At the same time he wanted continuity for his team of experienced recruiters and the wide network of agency workers behind them. The choice was clear: grow through a strategic partnership, or slowly lose ground.
The process: careful and confidential.
Exit in Flex guided the whole process, from the initial valuation and the information memorandum to selecting potential buyers and leading the negotiations. It was not about the highest bidder, but about a party that would strengthen the team and the clients. That became Accres: staying rooted in the region while growing nationally, just as BaanTreffers wanted.
The result: value for every stakeholder.
The transaction closed within the planned timeline, at a valuation that exceeded Luc's expectations. Just as important, every employee kept their position, client relationships stayed intact and BaanTreffers now operates from a stronger position than before. With the back-office support, technology and broader services of Accres, the team can focus on what it does best: matching the right people with the right jobs.
What other owners can take from it.
- Act before the pressure decides for you. Luc moved when he saw the pressure coming, not after it had hit his results. Selling from strength leaves room to choose.
- Choose on fit, not only on price. The right buyer protects what you built: your people, your clients and your name in the region.
- Selling is not an end point. For BaanTreffers it was the start of a new chapter, with more resources than it could have built alone.
Facing the same choice? Growing with a partner or carrying on independently both start with knowing what your agency is worth and who in the market fits you. Read how we approach selling a staffing agency, see who is buying in the Flex M&A Radar (in Dutch), or talk to Robbert Jan de Rooij, who was a partner in a staffing agency and sold the freelance platform ZZP365 himself: +31 40 798 8781.