Pitch Best Young M&A Advisor 2022: Floris de Klerk, DEX International M&A

Company: DEX International M&A 
Job Description: Director 
Age: 31 

What are the specialties of this talent? 
Floris is a strong strategist and always starts with the end in mind. His analytical skills are outstanding. Floris is determined, focused and responsive and has a feeling for people and processes, naturally switching between pushing for progress and taking time to build trust and create support with stakeholders when needed. Floris is a great team player, always seeking common ground and bringing energy and fun to the table. 
 
How does the talent distinguish itself from its peers? 
Floris entered the field of M&A in 2017 after a successful career in professional sailing and a study at Nijenrode University. Since, he has had a very steep learning curve and developed himself to a dealmaker who is respected by all stakeholders in our projects and most of all, highly valued by our clients. Starting at DEX as consultant, he has developed himself to the level of director. Over the last 2 years Floris has managed (as director / deal captain) a wide range of deals for private equity investors, entrepreneurs and large corporations, often with international counterparties (from the UK, US, Germany and France). Enterprise values ranged from € 10 – 150+ million. He has shown a strong cultural sensitivity in these deals and has on most cases exceeded client’s (and our internal) expectations. Floris is also very clear about his ambition to become the best deal maker that he can be and to grow into a role as a lead partner in our firm. 
 
What impact does the talent have within the organization?  
Floris thinks and acts as a business owner, always seeking to improve our offer and our organization. He has taken the lead in various projects, such as the development of our new website and the creation of an onboarding program for new employees. He has a clear vision on the profession of M&A Advisor and is actively coaching the junior professionals in our team and participating in recruitment. 

What impact does the talent have outside the organization?  
At DEX, we believe it is important that an M&A advisor, who often plays an intermediary role between principals, has a strong personality and own style of his own. Floris more than meets this criterion and always stays true to his own beliefs and personal style. People in and outside our firm immediately recognize the consistency in his behavior and this, combined with his natural empathy, has helped Floris to create a network of professionals (legal, tax, accounting) around him with whom he works effectively and pleasantly. 
 
To what extent does the talent make the difference to clients?  
Most importantly, clients appreciate Floris’ commitment, insights and results and he has become the trusted advisor of a number of our clients, often advising beyond the scope of the deal. 
 
Why does the talent deserve this nomination? 
In the last 18 months, Floris has led and managed a series of remarkable transactions at DEX. Some highlights: 

• The sale of Cementbouw to multiple buyers for CRH (5 transactions between June 2022 and October 2022). CRH is a global building materials business, employing 71,000 people at 3,155 locations in 28 countries generating €31 billion of revenues. Cementbouw is a market leading company in the Benelux concrete industry operating four business units. The divestment of the Recycling, Ready Mix Concrete and Aggregates businesses was a complex corporate carve-out that consisted of 5 different transactions to 5 separate buyers. As director and deal captain, Floris was responsible for the total project, from development of the approach, contacting of buyers, leading the negotiations and managing our junior team members and other advisors. The results exceeded our client's expectations. 

• The sale of Schaffelaarbos to Symrise for Intersaction (January 2022, transaction value undisclosed but confirmed in € 100-250 million range). Schaffelaarbos is a market leader in the European market of egg proteins. Symrise is listed at the German DAX and is a global leader in fragrances, flavors and pet food ingredients. The acquisition of Schaffelaarbos accelerated Symrise’s ambition to become a reference global player in pet nutritional solutions. Floris managed the project from the first contact until the final negotiations. He anticipated on all possible next steps and managed the interaction between a large corporate buyer with a complex decision making structure and a small dedicated management team and a private equity owner. Again, the results exceeded our client's expectations. 

• The sale of Redpoint to Trillium (US) and First Reserve (UK) for Intersaction (March 2021). RedPoint is a Netherlands based manufacturer of industrial valves for globally operating companies like Shell, ExxonMobil and Dow Chemicals. Trillium Flow Technologies is a global leader in valves and pumps, backed by UK investment firm First Reserve. For this deal, Floris identified and interacted with buyers from all continents, eventually negotiating with 3 buyers from 3 continents before closing the deal with Trillium / First Reserve. 

• The sale of Verhoef EMC (to Stokvis Group, May 2021) and Aerius Marine ((to Heinen&Hopman, November 2021) for Pon Holdings. Pon Holdings decided to divest some of its installation businesses in the marine industry. Part of the divestment was a stand-alone sale of Verhoef EMC, which was strongly tied to other Pon businesses. Aerius Marine is a German company and active in design, assembly,and supply of HVAC solutions. At these divestments Floris led our deal team and coordinated the project working closely together with management. 

• The sale of Glasnost to Ace and Quadrum Capital (October 2020). Glasnost is a PR and marketing agency with a blue-chip customer base of amongst others Unilever, Ziggo, Vodafone and Storytel. Born05, backed by investor Qaudrum Capital, started the creation of Ace, a group of creative agencies. Nowadays Ace consists of 12 specialized agencies and more than 320 employees. During this transaction Floris acted as trusted advisor and dedicated deal captain, being highly appreciated by both the seller and the buyer.  

At this moment, Floris is managing 2 more international transactions that are planned to close in the coming 2 months.  

Please feel free to contact me at any time for further explanation (martijn.peters@dex.nl or 06-13085245). 
  
Any references or recommendations from clients or (colleagues)? 

• Martijn Peters (managing director DEX)