Van Oers customer case study

As a company that operates in West Brabant, Van Oers Accountancy & Advies is making a name for itself nationally with its corporate finance branch. M&A Manager Jerry van Leent: “We give our customers the attention of a boutique firm, with the strength of a national organisation”. Since 2016, Van Leent and his colleagues have been using the virtual data room of Virtual Vaults. Van Leent: “At Van Oers, we always apply the two-supplier principle, but in practice we mainly work with Virtual Vaults.”

A fresh start with no problems
When he started to work as an M&A Consultant in 2011, Van Leent 'just' managed to experience the days of physical data rooms. Soon after, he worked with different Virtual Data Rooms, but not satisfactorily: “Starting up a data room should go smoothly, but we often noticed that the other party's advisers had problems getting into the room. The speed also left a lot to be desired, especially when entering the data. That took a lot of time and therefore money, but added no value for our customers. Moreover, if it does not work, it will scare other parties away and you will be blamed for this as an advisor.”

After a demo of Virtual Vaults in 2016, Van Leent and his team were sold: “The 'freshness' of Virtual Vaults was an eye-opener. Since we started using Virtual Vaults, we haven't had any more start-up problems. It works quick, efficient and it is very user-friendly. And their support works brilliantly as an addition to our services.”

Approachable
Van Oers Corporate Finance is known for numerous deals, including those for AED-Partner, Elektravon and Cepro. According to Van Leent, Van Oers' success is largely due to the human factor: “We are seen as a qualitative, sincere and approachable party with a down-to-earth attitude. As a business, the sales process will feel like you are on a rollercoaster, but we show understanding and respect for that. That's why clients dare ask us any questions they like. Not only do we have a strong personal relationship with our customers, but also with our colleagues and partners.”

Van Leent sees similarities with Virtual Vaults: “They are very approachable. During the time I have worked with Virtual Vaults, I have been in contact with the same people, who are aware of exactly what we need. They use Dutch terms in the software and are able to explain everything to all parties in human language. We are well attuned to each other.”

Deal certainty
Van Leent and his colleagues at Van Oers Corporate Finance use Virtual Vaults: “Our juniors work with it most of all and are therefore involved in the decision-making process regarding whether to switch suppliers. They prefer working with Virtual Vaults.” Not only does Van Oers have to be able to work well with the data room, but also the purchasers and sellers and their advisors. Van Leent: “A deal is reached in the heat of the battle. You therefore don't want to run the risk of losing momentum because of the technology. The other party must therefore also be comfortable using the data room. On every computer, on every system. Quick to open and with support on stand-by. That provides deal certainty. Virtual Vaults is head and shoulders above the rest when it comes to speed and ease of use. Moreover, they succeed in combining that user-friendliness with 100% security.”

Service and support
Not only are we pleased with the software, but with the cooperation too. Van Leent: “The people at Virtual Vaults help at all levels. If support is needed, we will receive it quickly and in Dutch, which is certainly important in the SME market. You understand one another better and can change direction faster if necessary. They are always available and also help proactively.”

Given the sensitivity of the data in a data room, you must also be able to rely on an honest partner. Van Leent provides an example: “We wanted to assign roles when setting up a data room. When, in an exceptional situation, we wanted to modify the role of the client, Virtual Vaults prevented us from doing so because we were not formally the client. Neither did Virtual Vaults modify this for us. That gives me the confidence that they will also deal with our clients in such a principled way.”

Be amazed
Van Oers Corporate Finance believes there are growth opportunities with Virtual Vaults: “It would be nice if we could use Virtual Vaults for a longer period of time during the process, as an ‘ongoing data room’, possibly also prior to and after the deal. They help us to deliberate. For example, in their requests for feedback, we have previously suggested new Q&A features. Those are quickly incorporated into updates and clearly explained.

Van Leent is happy to recommend Virtual Vaults to colleagues. He provides the following tip: “Call Virtual Vaults and be amazed by a demo. That's how it started for us. We were then positively surprised about what was actually possible.”