Shock Media, a leading Dutch managed hosting company, attracts Strikwerda Investments to shape its next phase of growth. This partnership will give Shock Media access to knowledge and capital. This will enable Shock Media to accelerate its strong Dutch position into a relevant European player through acquisitions at home and abroad. Hogenhouck m&a assisted shareholder Alain Götz in this transaction.
Rapid growth for Shock Media
Almelo-based Shock Media is the 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 issues, a leading position has been built up in this niche market. With excellent support and in-depth technical knowledge, customers are optimally advised and supported in achieving their online goals.
Shock Media has grown significantly in recent years and has been a consecutive winner of the FD Gazellen Award since 2013—the annual ranking and awards ceremony organized by the Financieele Dagblad to recognize the fastest-growing companies in the Netherlands. With the investment from Strikwerda Investments, Shock Media expects to be able to scale up further and attract new talent.
Hosting for mission-critical environments
Strikwerda Investments is a family investment company that focuses on ambitious, medium-sized and large SMEs and has a strong track-record in the ICT sector. For example, the investor is also majority shareholder in Total Webhosting Solutions (TWS) with which a market-leading position has been created within the traditional web hosting market in recent years. Although "Mass Market Webhosting" is a large market, there is more growth in specialized hosting segments, such as e-commerce hosting and hosting of mission-critical environments. Through previous investments, Strikwerda Investments is already active in this segment. Shock Media will continue to expand this specialty in the coming years and Alain Götz will participate and advise within TWS in addition to his existing role as CEO of Shock Media.
Capital and knowledge to further scale up
Alain Götz: "The collaboration creates a unique opportunity because it creates a platform with a lot of clout, capital and specific knowledge. By working together, Shock Media can further scale up while the customer-oriented culture and approach is fully preserved and will also be secured by the existing management. As a strong financial partner, Strikwerda Investments will enable us to make acquisitions in addition to our organic growth. Shock Media will thereby become the target platform for all specialized and business-critical hosting solutions within TWS. In addition to acquisitions at home and abroad, we will then become an even more attractive employer for scarce Linux talent, for example."
Maintaining team and autonomy
Abe Bakker of Strikwerda Investments: “Shock Media is one of the finest companies in the Netherlands and a gem within the European hosting market. The company has demonstrated impressive growth in recent years, thanks to its high level of expertise, customer satisfaction, and excellent reputation. We are convinced that our diverse areas of expertise will strengthen each other and that, together, we can take another major leap forward in this attractive market. In our view, this partnership can only be successful if Shock Media’s strengths are safeguarded—including by preserving its team, culture, and autonomy.”
Our role in the partnership will therefore be to support the management team in continuing the company's business, identity and growth. We are very excited to help Shock Media and its team accelerate its growth even further in the coming years. Together we can build a leading European player from the strong Dutch base. We are therefore looking forward to a successful and pleasant cooperation in realizing the company's further growth strategy."
Never a dull moment
Hogenhouck m&a assisted entrepreneur Alain Götz in this transaction. The transaction team consisted of Rik Stikkelbroeck, Hein Stoops and Daan Zonneveld.
The ambition to take ShockMedia to the very highest level was evident from the very first meeting in 2017. Topics such as the challenges of entrepreneurship and personal motivations also came up regularly. ShockMedia’s growth, combined with entrepreneur Alain’s wishes, needs, and ambitions, has now led to this next step in his entrepreneurial career. Hogenhouck facilitated the relationship with Strikwerda and guided the entire process leading up to this transaction.
Hein Stoops on this transaction: "When entering into a long-term relationship, it's best to reflect on the initial phase, the choices and ambitions. This now leads to a match that really energizes both parties."
