BNR Podcast: The deal of a lifetime (Titus van Dijk, Tonny Media)

A spontaneous conversation in Cannes, a Danish CEO who prefers to settle accounts on a beer mat, and ten months of negotiations about control and governance. This is the story behind the sale of Tonny Media to Podimo. In 2020, Sander Schimmelpenninck, Jaap Reesema and Titus van Dijk started Tonny Media. With titles such as the Zelfspodcast and Geuze & Gorgels, the company quickly grew into one of the best-known podcast brands in the Netherlands. While other podcast companies were searching for a working model, Tonny Media found its sweet spot with a clever mix of familiar faces, video, social media and extremely efficient operations. Yet this story does not begin with a strict sales plan, but with something completely different: the agreement that they wanted to create the most enjoyable job for themselves.

From the best job in the world to a serious takeover candidate

At the start, Titus, Sander and Jaap had one goal: to build a company where they themselves would want to work. Not concerned with exits, but with creativity, quality and fun. Growth came faster than expected. New shows, big names, a team that grew year after year and, behind the scenes, an organisation that was much tighter than its image suggested. During those years, interested parties regularly came forward, but selling was not yet on the agenda.

The perfect storm of Cannes and new course setters

In Cannes, Titus joins a major international player to discuss a possible TV project. For the first time, he notices that parties are taking him and Tonny Media seriously on a much larger stage. Meanwhile, Podimo comes knocking. A Danish player with deep pockets, international ambition and a CEO who prefers to do deals rather than read long memos. When three parties suddenly come knocking at once, it makes sense to explore what a sale could mean.

The Danish Viking and the beer mat

The tipping point comes at restaurant De IJsbreker in Amsterdam. Over a cup of coffee, the Podimo CEO proposes to reach a deal immediately. No lawyers. No advisors. A price on a beer mat. Titus walks outside and thinks for the first time: maybe this is really going to happen. Without even being sure he wanted to sell in the first place.

Ten months of negotiations

A quick beer mat deal is not going to happen. As soon as advisers, solicitors and investment bankers join the table, the atmosphere changes. The process becomes intense, substantive and sometimes frustrating. The valuation becomes clear relatively quickly. But the real battle is about governance, control and the division of roles after the deal. Titus wants to retain influence. Podimo wants control commensurate with their interest. This causes friction and sometimes even brings the process to a complete standstill. On several occasions, it is ultimately the one-on-one conversation between Titus and the Danish CEO that breaks the deadlock. Away from the lawyers, back to basics: how can we build something together here? For Titus, this period feels like the least enjoyable of his entrepreneurial life. Lots of tension, lots of secrecy, little sleep.

The moment at the bank app

The deal is finally concluded just before Lowlands. A few weeks later, during a company weekend in Limburg, Titus is standing in his swimming trunks at a castle, phone in hand. A fellow shareholder asks him to open his bank app. For the first time, he sees the new balance. It is surreal, concrete, and precisely the moment when the tension of the past year finally slips away.

What we take away from this at Virtual Vaults

This story shows once again how unexpectedly a sales process can begin. One day you are quietly building your business, the next you are sitting across from a party who would prefer to finalise the deal on a beer mat. And it is precisely at those moments, when conversations move faster than you planned, that preparation determines the outcome.

Being exit-ready is not a project. It is a way of working.

Listen to the whole story