Belgium’s PE firm Straco acquires Dutch finance recruitment company Welten Group from One Two Capital

Belgium-based Straco, a private equity group, announced on Friday, December 30, that it has acquired Welten Group, a finance recruitment company, from Dutch PE firm One Two Capital. The financial details of the deal have not been disclosed.

Straco is an independent entrepreneurial investment firm that focuses on long-term sustainable and profitable growth investments in Europe.

Transaction Overview

In May 2021, One Two Capital teamed up with Welten Group to capitalise on Welten’s dominant position and carry out an accelerated expansion plan as an M&A platform. Welten Group’s market share was significantly increased during this time through the acquisition and integration of BOLD People and Carrierecafe. Welten Group says it has experienced accelerated growth with the support of One Two Capital.

Casper Bannet, Managing Partner of One Two Capital, says, “Over the past year and a half, we have taken successful steps with Welten to increase volume. With the acquisition of Bold People and Carrierecafe, we increased our market share in a very targeted manner and with the rebranding of Welten and the investments in recruitment and marketing programs we improved our labour market position. It was precisely the right ingredients that ensured that we achieved our objectives with the Welten Group much earlier than expected.”

In a statement, Straco says that besides the international expansion of Welten, it also wants to further digitise Welten and broaden the range of its services. Maarten Peers, Managing Partner of Straco, says, “The acquisition of Welten marks Straco’s second major transaction for the team in the Netherlands in 2022, led by Emile van Elen.”

Brief about Welten Group

Welten Group was founded in 1992 and provides multi-label specialist employment and professional training services to financial institutions in Financial Advisory & Operations, Risk & Compliance and Business IT expertise. 

With its integrated full-service approach, Welten Group addresses structural labour shortages, regulatory requirements, and digitalisation efforts in the financial services industry. This includes providing comprehensive training and education programmes that are mandatory, industry-standard and customised. The firm has over 850 employees.

Expansion in Europe

With this acquisition, Dutch-based Welten Group is moving forward in its expansion strategy, which has also specifically considered neighbouring and European markets.

Chris Baelemans, CEO of Welten Group, says, “Now that we have developed a winning training and secondment model for the financial sector in the Netherlands, we want to further broaden our services and are actively looking for adjacent markets. This is how we continue to build the most inspiring finance community in the Netherlands.”

“In addition to banks, insurers and pension institutions, we increasingly match financial talent with organisations in the public domain. By also growing internationally, we offer our finance professionals even more career prospects. Straco helps us realise that international dream,” adds Baelemans.