Buy a staffing company in the Netherlands.The buy-side partner for foreign buyers, focused only on staffing.

Foreign buyers who acquired in the Netherlands.

Since 2024 the Flex M&A Radar counts 18 deals in the Dutch staffing market with a buyer from outside the Netherlands: Germany (7), Belgium (5), United States (2), India (1), Denmark (1), France (1), Luxembourg (1). Updated 2026-10-03.

All deals, each with a source, are in our Flex M&A Radar (Dutch).

What foreign buyers must know about Dutch staffing.

In a Dutch staffing market acquisition, much of the risk sits in the compliance history of the target. Buy the shares and you buy that history too. We check these points first.

• NEN 4400-1 certification and SNA registration. NEN 4400-1 is the Dutch standard for staffing companies, with periodic inspections. Registration with the SNA (Stichting Normering Arbeid) shows that an agency meets it. Clients check that register.
• ABU or NBBU collective labour agreement. Dutch temp agencies generally apply the ABU or the NBBU collective labour agreement (CAO). Both have a phase system (A, B and C) for how an agency worker's contract builds up, and pension runs through the sector fund StiPP. Since 2026 the equivalent pay rule (gelijkwaardige beloning) applies: an agency worker's total package must be worth at least as much as that of comparable employees of the client. Before 2026 this was the inlenersbeloning. Errors here lead to back-pay claims.
• Payroll tax, the G-account and chain liability. Under Dutch chain liability, clients can in certain cases be held liable for payroll taxes a staffing company fails to pay. To limit that risk, clients often pay part of each invoice into the agency's G-account (G-rekening), a blocked account used only for tax payments. We check the payroll tax position and the G-account.
• The Wtta licensing regime. From 1 January 2027 temp, secondment and payroll companies need an admission from the Dutch Labour Supply Authority (NAU), with a public register. The deposit is EUR 100,000 per lending entity, returned once the agency has complied with the rules for four years. An entity can be exempted if, on 31 December 2026, it has been registered and actively lending staff for four uninterrupted years, and has a recent clean payment statement from the tax authority. Enforcement starts on 1 January 2028: clients may then only work with admitted agencies. What the Wtta means when you buy.
• Self-employed constructions. The Dutch tax authority has enforced the rules on false self-employment (Wet DBA) since 1 January 2025. We check how the target works with freelancers.
• Share deal or asset deal. Most Dutch staffing acquisitions are share deals, so contracts, certification and registrations stay where they are. In an asset deal, your own Dutch entity needs its own Wtta admission. Warranties, indemnities and a vendor loan or earn-out protect you against the past. Have the tax side reviewed by your own tax adviser.

How Dutch staffing companies are valued.

Normalised EBITDA times a multiple gives the enterprise value (EV). Normalisation corrects for an owner's salary above or below market rate, one-off costs, private expenses and non-operating items. At 5x, every euro of normalisation adds five euros of value, so we test each adjustment from your side.

• Dutch staffing overall: typically 3x to 7x normalised EBITDA, depending on size.
• Up to EUR 0.5 million EBITDA: usually 3x to 5x.
• EUR 0.5 to 2 million EBITDA: usually 4x to 6x.
• Above EUR 2 million EBITDA: usually 5x to 7x.
• Specialists with growth and low client concentration: at the top of their size class.
• Generalists with client concentration and recruitment firms: at the lower end of their size class.

As an indication, for agencies from about EUR 1 million EBITDA: private equity pays 5.5x to 7x, family offices 5x to 6.5x, strategic buyers 5x to 6x and MBI candidates 4x to 5.5x.

From enterprise value to equity value. The equity bridge adds cash, deducts debt and corrects working capital against an agreed normal level, which matters because agencies pre-finance wages. An example: EUR 500,000 of normalised EBITDA at 5x is an enterprise value of EUR 2.5 million. What you pay for the shares follows from the bridge.

What moves the multiple: client concentration, owner dependence, contract duration, margin per hour, the share of self-employed workers, certification, quality of the administration, specialisation, scale, growth and the management team.

Deal structures. All cash, cash plus a vendor loan (typically 10 to 20% of the price), cash plus an earn-out, or a rollover in which the seller reinvests alongside private equity.

Robbert Jan de Rooij

Former partner in a staffing agency, who sold the freelance platform ZZP365 himself. Leads negotiations and guides integration after the acquisition.

+31 40 798 8781
Book a meeting with Robbert Jan

Stef Kanen

Chartered accountant (registeraccountant) from the M&A and audit practice of EY, with CFO experience and an exit of his own. Guided an exit of EUR 100 million.

+31 40 798 8782

Ron van Oeveren

27 years as an M&A adviser at advisory firms, a bank and his own firm. Many transactions in HR services.

+31 40 798 8783
Book a meeting with Ron

Our partners have guided 45+ transactions together, partly in previous roles, with more than EUR 300 million in deal value. Exit in Flex is active in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.