Marktlink advises adesso Group on trio of Dutch IT acquisitions

Germany’s adesso Group has acquired three software development companies in the Netherlands. 

The trio of deals were all brokered by Marktlink, a merger & acquisitions consultancy which has offices in both Germany and the Netherlands. According to Fredrik Jonker from Marktlink, the joining of forces will deliver a win-win for both parties. 

For Blue4IT, Codesquad and Bluefront (all are specialised in front-end, back-end and architecture based on Java and were part of Blue Group IT), the merger with adesso Group provides further scale. The Dutch IT firms can now also profit from the international footprint and network of adesso Group – the listed company (turnover: €450 million) has more than 4,200 employees working from offices across Europe.

In the Netherlands, adesso Group has been active with on the ground operation since the summer of last year. The practice is led by Jan Heuker, a former consultant who previously spent six-plus years at Projective. “The joining of forces provides an excellent symbiosis in which both parties can benefit from each other's knowledge and skills,” said Heuker.

Meanwhile, for the Germans, the deal builds on its international expansion strategy. The listed company has the ambition to become a serious player in the Dutch IT landscape, but faces strong competition in the hiring of digital talent and programmers. Buying its way into the market was therefore deemed the most effective way to ramp up its team. 

All 43 employees of Blue4IT, Codesquad and Bluefront will transfer to adesso Group, with the directors of the three software companies maintaining a minority stake. 

According to Marktlink dealmaker Jonker, more transactions can be expected in the Dutch IT sector in the near future. “The digitisation process is still in full swing and will continue for years. IT is therefore one of the fastest-growing sectors in the country, but at the same time, the market still is very fragmented.”

In related German – Dutch deals, earlier this year Axel Springer subsidiary StepStone acquired Cammio, a Dutch video recruiting platform.