mergers & acquisitions
Cresco is proud to have advised Citizens, a unique new player in the Benelux market, with the ambition to integrate the best digital experts into a collective that guides clients through their entire digital evolution, from communication and content creation to websites, social media, UX/UI, AI, innovation and new technologies.
Citizens consists of a dynamic mix entrepreneurs, academics, former top bankers and advisors, combining vision, expertise and execution power: Jan De Roeck, André Oosterlinck, Nathan Verduyn, Matthias Uyttersprot, Marc Gallet, Philip Greenfield, Leo Van Steenberge.
With their pioneering, founder-led approach, Citizens aims to become one of the first truly integrated digital groups in the Benelux, helping agencies to move faster and stronger in a rapidly changing digital world.
Unlike most M&A stories and buy-and-build strategies in this sector, this is not a private equity–driven consolidation. Instead, founders and shareholders themselves join forces: they bring their companies together and remain shareholders of the new group.
The buy-and-build journey starts with a bang: Citizens simultaneously acquires five established digital agencies in Belgium and the Netherlands: AGConsult, Thinline, FaceWorks, Online Department and Your Business Online.
Together these companies serve over 1,000 clients, each with 15 to 20 years of strong market presence.
The Cresco team involved in this transaction included David Dessers and Hussein Dagher.
We sincerely thank all parties for the excellent collaboration and congratulate Citizens and the founders of AGConsult, Thinline, FaceWorks, Online Department and Your Business Online on this exciting new chapter.
For more details, please consult the full article on De Tijd.
For any further information or questions on M&A and buy-and-build strategies, please feel free to contact David Dessers and Hussein Dagher.
