The sale of Domeyn Milieu Adviesgroep: what if family succession isn't an option?

Selling a business after three decades of entrepreneurship

"As a soil consultant in road and water construction, I first came into contact with the environmental profession at a landfill site. I saw all those waste streams and thought: surely this could be done differently? In 1992, I founded Milon, an environmental research firm. Milab, an accredited environmental laboratory, and consultancy De Roever followed later."

Trikels had always intended to stop working around the age of sixty. His children had shown interest in entrepreneurship, but were honest that this particular sector didn't necessarily match their own interests. "As a business owner, I initially found that a little disappointing. But as a father, I'm obviously glad they're following their own path," says Trikels.

A careful selection from thirty candidates

Since succession within the family wasn't an option, Trikels had to actively search for a new owner. "I interviewed about five M&A advisors. For guidance through the sale process, I eventually found Rembrandt M&A through Rabobank. Their strong track record in the sector was one of the reasons I chose them."

Under the leadership of sector head Wilbert van Gerwen, Rembrandt M&A assembled a small team of specialists. That gave Trikels confidence: "It reassured me that continuity of the process would always be guaranteed, something you can't always count on with a one-person operation. The short lines with Rabobank were also important, given the financing that needed to be arranged."

Rembrandt M&A approached around thirty potential parties within its network. After an initial selection round, a shortlist of seven potential buyers remained. The choice eventually fell on Sansidor, a private equity firm with around 25 companies in building-related services. "What appealed to me immediately was that they keep the companies they acquire as intact as possible. For our people, it was important to me that as little as possible would change," says Trikels.

A complex sale process

The sale wasn't straightforward: three companies, a works council and multiple shareholders at Milab. Trikels explains: "Looking back, due diligence was the toughest part. We shared thousands of documents, and countless detailed questions came back. It's a real comfort to have a party like Rembrandt by your side. They reassured me that this is all standard practice and that my companies are fundamentally healthy. I really couldn't, and wouldn't have wanted to, have done it without them. I simply didn't have the knowledge, and at that point, not the patience or peace of mind either."

Beyond the business side, the personal connection also mattered to Trikels. "M&A Manager Felix Gulinck and I regularly talked about more than just the deal itself, about hobbies, our children, that kind of thing. Having that personal element in such an intensive, business-driven process felt good."

"My most important piece of advice? Start thinking about succession, and about how to position your company for the future, as early as possible," says Trikels, reflecting on the value of thorough preparation. Behind the scenes, he had long been working to gradually shift operational responsibilities to his management team. "It was important to make myself less indispensable to daily operations. No buyer wants to acquire a company that depends primarily on one person."

For Trikels, the deal marks not only the end of one entrepreneurial chapter, but the beginning of another. "In the end, I'm very satisfied with how everything went. The investment in professional guidance paid off many times over. Now I can focus on the next phase of my career: helping and mentoring young entrepreneurs, so they can learn from my experience."