TSH acquires strategic stake in Korton Group

Nieuw Vennep, 19 April 2022 - Total Specific Hosting ('TSH'), a leading group of Dutch IT outsourcing companies, has acquired a strategic stake in Korton Group ('Korton'). The transaction will allow Korton to benefit from TSH's established best practices and economies of scale, enabling it to realize its buy-and-build strategy within the healthcare sector in the Netherlands. This will further accelerate the growth at Korton’s customers and employees. TSH is a portfolio company of Strikwerda Investments, the leading investor in Dutch IT companies.

Successful IT approach in healthcare
Korton was incorporated 25 years ago and has become an important player in the field of IT outsourcing in the Netherlands. With over 70 employees, Korton offers professional and innovative cloud solutions to its customers in the home-, disability- and elderly care sectors. The company has in-depth knowledge and understanding of the requirements in the care sector, a high service level (XLA) for end users and a full scope IT outsourcing services package, including an innovative digital workplace proposition. The strong XLA approach and its positive results are visible in Korton’s high annual Giarte IT Experience Benchmark score of 8.2.

Top-3 Dutch Healthcare IT companies
Peter Altevogt founded Korton in 1997 and is still involved as an ambassador of the Korton Group: "We have been around for over 25 years now and in recent years Korton has evolved from an all-round SME IT service provider into a serious specialist in the IT market for care and mobility. Korton was looking for a strategic partner with the right expertise and sufficient capital to accelerate its growth by means of a buy-and-build strategy. We found the ideal partner in TSH. It is time for a new chapter, in which we aim to become the top three Dutch healthcare IT player through strategic acquisitions. We will therefore be looking to expand via add-on acquisitions, and look to work with parties who are looking for a partner to support them in the ongoing transformation to cloud. Our management team will continue in its current role to realize this next step.”

Korton thrilled about expertise and strategic added value of TSH
Bastiaan Topper, CEO of Korton Group: "TSH gives us the freedom and space to remain entrepreneurs and expand our business. In recent years we have grown rapidly organically and as a result we have become more visible to care institutions, who now see us as a serious alternative to the larger IT players in the care market. With the support of a strong partner like TSH, we will have the ‘substance’ we need to take Korton to the next growth phase."

Expansion of TSH proposition in healthcare vertical
Joris Dierick, (interim) CEO of Total Specific Hosting: "Korton has proven that it can bring its customers to a secure environment in the cloud. This acquisition marks the first step for TSH in the attractive IT outsourcing market in healthcare, which we see as an interesting growth market in the coming years. Korton’s management team and Peter are a welcome addition to our team of ambitious entrepreneurs."

Strikwerda Investments
Strikwerda Investments (‘SI’) is a family owned investment company that focuses on healthy, ambitious, medium-sized and large SME companies. It is a Dutch investment fund with a strong track record in the IT sector. SI is the majority shareholder in IT outsourcing company TSH and as result of this transaction also become a majority shareholder in Korton. TSH has a long term investment horizon and, in addition to the current strong organic growth, aims to acquire other leading IT outsourcing companies as part of the group. "As a result of the transaction an experienced management team has become part of Total Specific Hosting. Bastiaan, Mark, Derk Jan and Koen have already set up a great company company and can accelerate growth in the new setting", says Mark van Beusekom, partner of consultancy firm Hogenhouck M&A, which supported Korton during this transaction.