Shock Media, a leading Dutch managed hosting company, attracts family-owned investment company Strikwerda Investments for further expansion. As part of this collaboration, Shock Media will have access to knowledge and capital. This enables Shock Media to accelerate the expansion of its strong position in the Netherlands to become a relevant European player in its field. Hogenhouck m&a advised shareholder Alain Götz in this transaction.
Fast growth for Shock Media
Shock Media is a managed hosting specialist for business-critical websites, web shops, and (web) applications and was founded in 1999 by Alain Götz. By focusing on the most demanding customers with solutions for complex hosting, the company has been able to build a leading position in this niche market. With both excellent support and in-depth technical knowledge, customers are optimally advised and supported to achieve their online goals.
Shock Media has grown considerably in recent years. From 2013 it has won the FD Gazellen Award – an award from Het Financieele Dagblad for the fastest growing companies in the Netherlands – for nine consecutive years. With the investment from Strikwerda Investments, Shock Media expects to be able to scale further and attract new talent.
Hosting for mission-critical websites
Strikwerda Investments is a family investment company for ambitious, medium to large SMEs. The company has a strong track record in the IT sector. It is the majority shareholder in Total Webhosting Solutions (TWS), which has created a market-leading position within the traditional web hosting market in recent years. Although mass-market web hosting is a large market, there is higher growth potential in specialized hosting segments, such as e-commerce hosting and hosting of mission-critical environments. With earlier investments, Strikwerda already has a position in this field. hock Media will further expand this specialism in the next years and Alain Götz will participate and advise within TWS, in addition to his existing role as CEO of Shock Media.
Capital and expertise for further growth
Alain Götz: “This collaboration creates a unique opportunity with a powerful platform, capital, and specific knowledge. With this partnership Shock Media can scale up while the customer-oriented culture and approach are fully preserved, also by the existing management. As a strong financial partner, Strikwerda enables us to grow through acquisitions in the Netherlands and abroad, in addition to our strong organic growth. Shock Media will be the target platform for all specialized and business-critical hosting solutions within TWS. This will make us an even more attractive employer for scarce Linux talent, for example.”
Dedicated team and autonomy for next steps
Abe Bakker: “Shock Media is a strong company in the Netherlands and a true pearl within the European hosting market. The company has shown impressive growth in recent years, thanks to its high level of knowledge, customer satisfaction, and excellent reputation. We are convinced that we complement each other based on our different expertise. Together, we can make a big leap in this attractive market. In our view, this collaboration can only be successful if the power of Shock Media can be safeguarded by preserving the team, culture, and autonomy.
Our role in the partnership will therefore be to support the management team in continuing the business, its own identity and growth. We are excited to help Shock Media and the team accelerate its growth even further. Based on a strong position in the Dutch market, together we can build a leading European player. We look forward to a successful and pleasant collaboration in the company’s growth strategy”.
Never a dull moment
Hogenhouck m&a advised entrepreneur Alain Götz in this transaction. The transaction team consisted of Rik Stikkelbroeck, Hein Stoops and Daan Zonneveld.
The ambitions to take ShockMedia to the very highest level were clear from the very first meeting in 2017. Topics such as entrepreneurial challenges and personal motivations also came up regularly. ShockMedia’s growth and entrepreneur Alain’s wants, needs and ambitions now lead to this next step in his entrepreneurial career. Hogenhouck established the relationship with Strikwerda and led the entire process of arriving at this transaction.
Hein Stoops on this transaction: “When entering into a long-term relationship, it’s best to think carefully about the initial phase, the choices and ambitions. This now leads to a match that really energizes both parties.”
