Matt Gooch, William Blair's head of European investment banking, was named Best Midmarket M&A Advisor in the Netherlands. Gooch was the only non-Dutch speaker to be honored at the 18th annual M&A Awards ceremony in Amsterdam hosted by Alex van Groningen on December 14.

"The Netherlands is home to an incredible number of innovative, high-growth companies and a thriving private equity community," said Gooch, who is based in London and first joined William Blair in 1997. "This award is a tremendous honor and it recognizes the hard work that our entire global team has put into delivering outstanding results for business owners and investors across the Benelux region for more than 20 years."

Since 2014, William Blair has completed nearly 30 transactions on behalf of companies based in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. This includes multiple sell-side mandates for many of the Benelux region's leading private equity firms.

William Blair's high-profile sell-side transactions for Benelux-based companies include:

  • Logicalis's acquisition by DXC Technology in October 2017
  • Apeldoorn Flexible Packaging's acquisition by Jindal Poly Films in September 2017
  • Getronics' acquisition by Bottega InvestCo and Grupo Cimcorp in July 2017
  • Duomed's acquisition by G Square in May 2017
  • Roompot's acquisition by PAI Partners in November 2016
  • Continental Bakeries' acquisition by Goldman Sachs in June 2016
  • Meat Processing Systems' acquisition by Marel in January 2016
  • Dümmen Orange's acquisition by BC Partners in December 2015
  • AXA Stenman's acquisition by Allegion in September 2015
  • Ammeraal Beltech's acquisition by Advent International in July 2015
  • SPGPrints' acquisition by Investcorp in August 2014
  • JET Group's acquisition by Egeria in April 2014
  • DORC's acquisition by Montagu Private Equity in February 2014

"The success we have achieved for our Benelux clients is a reflection of the strength of the relationships we have built with the region's private equity firms, the depth of our sector expertise, and our ability to access the optimal buyers around the globe," Gooch said.