Two acquisitions, a friendship and the art of the deal.

Edwin van Lieshout, pictured telling his story, is a man who built his career on straightforwardness, hard work and a deep sense of responsibility. From the age of twenty-four, he directed teams, made decisions that were sometimes tough but never half-hearted, and knew his industry inside out.

Van Lieshout started out in the steel business, took trips that didn’t suit him, returned to where his strengths lay and worked his way up to key positions each time. “I was shit-scared,” he tells himself. “But I knew what I wanted, and I also knew how to deal with customers.”

The search for succession within a family business
Perk IJzerhandel, a nearly two-hundred-year-old technical wholesaler in the Zaan region, has a history in which entrepreneurship and craftsmanship are intertwined with loyalty and trust. The purchase and subsequent sale of the company are a story that begins in 2007, when then-owner Wim Perk began looking for a successor outside the family.

He ended up with his commercial manager, Van Lieshout. According to Van Lieshout, it was an unexpected turn of events: “Wim said, ‘If I’m going to sell it, you’re the first candidate.’ That was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.” Through a mutual relationship, he met Pieter van den Berg, who guided him from the first moment. Van den Berg remembers it as a special process: “It was the transfer of a family business, the fifth generation. That was many times more emotional for everyone involved. If anyone handled the family with great respect, it was Edwin.”

Everything around the purchase was built up step by step. Negotiations, legal and fiscal set-up, financing through ABN AMRO; everything was done in good faith. Van Lieshout says: “We also had good relations with ABN AMRO. They financed the tent, but also the guy. They knew me, the policies and how the structures were.” After the purchase, he continued to build the company. They were years of hard work, but also of sensible policies. “Other people who bought a company also bought a car, pool and Porsche and were bankrupt after two years. I believe: pay off everything first, then invest. And what remains stays in the company.”

The credit crisis shortly after the acquisition was tough, but Perk came through it without any layoffs. Van den Berg sees that as one of Van Lieshout’s strongest points: “Edwin never fired anyone. He always looked at how people could stay. You get a lot of loyalty in return.” Van Lieshout himself puts it simply: “What is more important: firing someone with all the consequences for his family or twenty thousand euros extra profit?”

Impulsive
Yet circumstances began to change. Competition became tougher, purchasing conditions more complicated and expansion proved impossible. At the same time, a period played out privately that affected his energy. “I realized: what am I still doing it for? All the stress with sixty staff?” When Meindert Noordenbos of Biesheuveltechniek inquired in 2016 whether the company was for sale, the sales process began.

At this, Van Lieshout again requested guidance from Van den Berg. That process was very different from the purchase. “We negotiated a lot on points and commas,” says Van den Berg. “Also, the buyer had to be able to justify everything internally.” Van Lieshout acknowledges that he sometimes had to hold back: “I can react a little impulsively. If things don’t go the way I want, I can sometimes bang my fist on the table. This is it, and otherwise it just stops.”

Negotiations took several months, with extensive due diligence and contract negotiations. Finally, the deal came together and Van Lieshout sold to Biesheuveltechniek. One of the conditions was that he would stay for a minimum of five years. He did, and successfully. Thanks to the increase in scale, sales with customer Tata Steel, for example, grew explosively. “From seven tons it went to three million,” he says.

Van Lieshout’s departure on June 1, 2024, was dignified and consensual. After that, he chose rest and meaning. Two afternoons a week, he volunteers at the hospital as a patient transporter. “From the age of 24 I was always above the groups. Now I’m in the group and it’s incredibly fun.”

Trust as the foundation
Over all these years, the relationship between Van Lieshout and Van den Berg has grown into something much bigger than a business partnership. “The honest story started from day one with Pieter and Guidon and Sophista,” says Van Lieshout. “They do their best, they know what I want, they anticipate developments and come up with advice. Trust is the word.” For his part, Van den Berg says, “You have to give the honest advice. Then you also create a bond.”

Both stress that there was constant respect, even in difficult conversations. Van den Berg calls it “the art of the deal,” bringing together knowledge of sales, economics, taxation and legal structures. “It’s fun to come to the best possible deal,” he says. “That’s the reason I still enjoy working here.”

Van Lieshout fully recognizes that feeling. Below the line, for him it’s all about integrity: “I know what I’m agreeing to. I can’t stand injustice. If they have good intentions, OK, but if they start thwarting me, you’re wrong with me.” Then he immediately adds, “But you can call me day or night. If Pieter is on the side of the road with his car in France, I’ll arrive to help him.”

In the end, an acquisition is not just about the numbers and contracts, but about the people involved. It is a matter of people, trust and responsibility. And in this case, also of a friendship that endures long after the deals are closed.