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Interview – SOWACCESS

2017 SOWACCESS reporting

Nicolas Pirotte, you are Manager of SOWACCESS, in charge of supporting transfers and acquisitions of SMEs in Wallonia. The missions of SOWACCESS are to raise awareness among business owners about business transfer, to match sellers and buyers and to connect them with the best professionals to support them in the transfer/acquisition process.

You collaborate with the private sector, by granting a recognized quality label to business transfer professionals active in Wallonia and who are recognized by an independent Ethics Committee.

You have launched a business transfer barometer, based on the information gathered among such professionals, making it possible to have a good overview of the business transfer activity in Wallonia.

What are the key learnings for 2017?

Nicolas Pirotte: “Indeed, this ‘reporting’ makes it possible to have an overview of the business transfer activity in Wallonia, and to see the role played by SOWACCESS to facilitate deals. Here are the key findings:

• 310deals reported in 2017 in Wallonia, including 82 facilitated thanks to SOWACCESS
• € 2.522.499is the average deal amount (while the average deal facilitated by SOWACCESS amounts to € 1.020.641, so we clearly see the added value of SOWACCESS also for smaller deals in the market)
• Regarding the EBITDA multiple, it amounts to 4,81for all deals reported in Wallonia
• In 2017, successful business transfers supported by our “SOWACCESS agreed partners” safeguarded 6014 jobs(including 1206 jobs thanks to SOWACCESS)”