TSH takes strategic interest in Korton Group
Nieuw Vennep, April 19, 2022 - TSH, the leading group of collaborating Dutch ICT outsourcing companies, has acquired a strategic stake in Korton Group ("Korton"). This will give Korton access to TSH's knowledge and economies of scale to enable it to realize its buy-and-build strategy within healthcare in the Netherlands. This will accelerate the growth path for customers and employees. TSH is a portfolio company of Strikwerda Investments, the leading investor in Dutch ICT companies.
Successful ICT approach in healthcare
Korton celebrates its 25th anniversary this year and has become a major Dutch player in ICT outsourcing. With over 70 employees, Korton offers professional and innovative cloud solutions for its customers in home, disability and elderly care. The company has in-depth knowledge of the healthcare process, a high service level (XLA) towards end users and a full scope IT-outsourcing services package, including an innovative digital healthcare workplace. The strong XLA approach and its positive results are also visible in the annual Giarte IT Experience Benchmark score of 8.2.
Top three Dutch Healthcare ICT companies
Peter Altevogt founded Korton in 1997 and is still involved as an ambassador of Korton Group: “We now exist for 25 years and in recent years have developed from an all-round SME IT service provider to a serious specialist in the ICT market for healthcare and mobility. Korton had been looking for some time for a strategic partner with the right expertise and sufficient capital to accelerate growth through a buy-and-build strategy. In TSH, we found the ideal partner. It is time for a new chapter, in which we will enter the Dutch top three healthcare IT players with strategic acquisitions. We will therefore seek targeted expansion with players in this market segment, and parties seeking a partner to go through the transformation to the cloud. Our management team will continue in its current role to realize this next step.”
Korton happy with expertise and strategic added value TSH
Bastiaan Topper, CEO of Korton Group: “TSH gives us the freedom and space to undertake and build. We have grown rapidly organically in recent years and have become much more visible to healthcare institutions, which now see us as a serious alternative to the larger healthcare players in the market. Under the wings of a strong parent like TSH, we will have the ‘body’ needed to take Korton to the next phase of growth.”
Expanding TSH’s proposition in the healthcare vertical
Joris Dierick, (interim) CEO of TSH: “Korton has proven that it can bring its clients to a secure environment in the cloud. This acquisition gives TSH a first step in the attractive ICT outsourcing market within healthcare, which we see as an interesting growth market for the coming years. The management team and Peter are a welcome addition to our team of ambitious entrepreneurs.”
Strikwerda Investments
Strikwerda Investments (SI) is a family investment company that focuses on healthy, ambitious, medium-sized and large SMEs. It is a Dutch investment fund with a strong track-record in the ICT sector. SI is majority shareholder in ICT-outsourcing company TSH and will become so in Korton through this transaction. TSH has a long-term investment horizon and, in addition to its current strong organic growth, also wants other leading ICT outsourcing companies to join within the group.
“With the affiliation of Korton with TSH, an experienced management team joins. Bastiaan, Mark, Derk Jan and Koen have already established a great company and can accelerate even further in the new setting,” said Mark van Beusekom, partner of consulting firm Hogenhouck M&A, which guided Korton in this successful transaction.