Selling a Business in Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the Netherlands' financial and technology capital — and one of Europe's most internationally connected M&A markets. The city's position as the preferred EU headquarters for global corporations, combined with a mature technology ecosystem and a highly internationalised buyer pool, creates conditions for well-run sale processes to achieve genuinely competitive outcomes.
The Amsterdam mid-market M&A landscape in 2026
Amsterdam occupies a distinctive position in European M&A. The city is simultaneously a mature domestic financial centre — home to Euronext Amsterdam, the AFM, and the Dutch operations of every major European bank — and one of the most internationally oriented business environments in the world. English is the working language of the Amsterdam business community to a degree that is almost unique in continental Europe, which significantly reduces friction in cross-border transactions.
The 2025-2026 M&A environment in Amsterdam has been characterised by strong US strategic appetite for Dutch technology businesses, continued PE activity in software and healthcare services, and growing interest from Asian acquirers looking to establish EU platforms. The Netherlands' participation exemption and treaty network make Dutch-structured businesses attractive to acquirers from multiple geographies, which directly benefits sellers by expanding the competitive buyer universe.
Amsterdam's technology sector has grown substantially — from a cluster anchored by Booking.com and a handful of unicorns to a broader ecosystem spanning fintech, enterprise software, logistics technology, and life sciences. The maturation of the ecosystem means that Amsterdam-based founders are increasingly running genuine competitive processes rather than accepting early approaches from single strategic buyers.
The Dutch mid-market — businesses with enterprise values broadly between €10M and €300M — is well-served by a mix of Dutch boutique advisers and international investment banks. For transactions with a significant cross-border dimension — US buyers, pan-European acquirers, or inbound interest from outside the Netherlands — working with advisers who understand both the Dutch legal and cultural context and the international buyer landscape is important.
Key sectors driving Amsterdam M&A
Amsterdam's economy spans technology, financial services, logistics, and life sciences. Here is what buyer appetite looks like across each major sector.
Technology & Enterprise SaaS
Amsterdam's technology scene has matured significantly over the past decade, producing a cluster of enterprise SaaS, cybersecurity, and B2B software businesses that are active M&A targets. The city's English-language operating environment, international talent pool, and position as the EU headquarters for numerous global technology companies creates both a rich buyer universe and a strong pipeline of acquisition targets. Booking.com, TomTom, and Adyen have demonstrated that Amsterdam can produce technology businesses of genuine global scale — and the ecosystem they anchor attracts corporate development interest from US and European strategics alike.
Fintech & Payments
Amsterdam's fintech sector benefits from proximity to the European Central Bank's regulatory framework, a sophisticated investor base, and the Netherlands' historically strong financial services industry. Payments businesses, open banking platforms, RegTech, and B2B financial infrastructure companies are regularly sought by European bank groups, US payment networks, and PE-backed financial services consolidators. AFM licensing and DNB authorisation are standard diligence items for financial services transactions — buyers will model the cost and timeline of regulatory change-of-control approvals into their valuations.
Travel Tech & Marketplace Platforms
The presence of Booking.com has made Amsterdam a natural hub for travel technology and marketplace businesses. Companies building adjacent to the travel ecosystem — vacation rental platforms, travel insurance tech, experience marketplace software, hotel management systems — benefit from talent density, investor familiarity, and a deep understanding of marketplace economics. Strategic acquirers in this space range from the major OTAs to airline and hospitality groups seeking to expand their digital capabilities.
Logistics & Supply Chain Technology
Amsterdam's position at the centre of European logistics — anchored by Schiphol Airport and the proximity to Rotterdam's port — has produced a growing cluster of supply chain technology, freight forwarding software, and logistics intelligence businesses. The sector is actively sought by PE consolidators building vertical software platforms, as well as strategic acquirers in the broader logistics and transportation sector. Businesses that combine software margins with network effects in physical supply chains command particular buyer attention.
Media, Creative & AdTech
Amsterdam has historically been a strong creative and media centre, and the city's AdTech and digital media ecosystem reflects this heritage. Programmatic advertising infrastructure, content intelligence platforms, and digital publishing businesses are active M&A targets, sought by global advertising holding companies, media conglomerates, and PE funds with MarTech investment theses. Seller considerations include data privacy compliance under GDPR — a significant buyer concern for any business handling consumer data — and the impact of cookie deprecation on business models dependent on third-party data.
Life Sciences & MedTech
The Netherlands has a strong life sciences and MedTech heritage, with Philips having anchored a healthcare technology ecosystem that continues to produce compelling acquisition targets. Digital health platforms, clinical decision support software, medical device businesses, and pharma services companies attract strategic buyers from global med-tech corporations, pharma companies, and healthcare PE funds. The Netherlands' ANVS regulatory framework and the CE marking environment for medical devices are standard elements of buyer diligence.
Dutch-specific considerations when selling your business
Selling a Dutch BV involves legal, regulatory, and structural considerations that are specific to the Netherlands. International buyers and sellers alike should understand these before a process begins — they affect both timeline and deal structure.
BV Share Transfer & Notarial Deed
Unlike share transfers in the UK or US, the transfer of shares in a Dutch BV (Besloten Vennootschap) requires execution of a notarial deed before a Dutch civil-law notary. This is a mandatory legal formality — there is no equivalent of a simple share transfer form. The notarial deed requirement adds a logistical element to deal completion that must be built into the process timeline. For international buyers completing Dutch acquisitions, coordinating the notary appointment is typically the responsibility of the seller's Dutch legal counsel, and buyers should ensure their Dutch legal team is engaged well ahead of the expected closing date.
Works Council (Ondernemingsraad) Consultation
Dutch companies with 50 or more employees are required to have a Works Council (Ondernemingsraad, or OR). On a proposed acquisition, the Works Council has a formal right of advice (adviesrecht) — it must be consulted on the transaction before any binding decision is made. This is not a veto right, but it is a substantive consultation process that requires time and preparation. Buyers and sellers must factor OR consultation into the deal timeline: the consultation process typically takes four to six weeks, and any decision taken without proper consultation can be challenged. For international buyers unfamiliar with Dutch labour law, this is frequently an underestimated element of deal process.
Dutch Holding Structures & Participation Exemption
The Netherlands is one of the world's most established international holding jurisdictions, with a participation exemption that exempts dividend income and capital gains from Dutch-source subsidiaries under qualifying conditions. Many Amsterdam-based businesses are structured beneath Dutch holding companies specifically for this reason. In a transaction context, buyers and sellers need to understand the holding structure in full — intercompany loans, intellectual property holdings, and the location of key assets within the group — because these structural decisions affect both the tax efficiency of the transaction and the form of consideration. Dutch tax advisers are an essential part of the deal team.
EU Headquarters Premium & International Buyer Universe
Amsterdam's position as the preferred EU headquarters location for US technology companies — Uber, Netflix, Tesla, and hundreds of others are EU-headquartered here — creates a structural premium for Amsterdam-based businesses. US acquirers understand the Netherlands as a familiar and trusted jurisdiction, which reduces legal uncertainty and can compress deal timelines. For Amsterdam businesses with significant European revenue or operations, the EU HQ positioning also opens the buyer universe to both US strategics seeking a European platform and intra-European consolidators seeking pan-European coverage.
What Amsterdam buyers are looking for right now
The Amsterdam buyer market in 2026 is active but selective. US strategics are focused on finding European technology businesses that can serve as platform acquisitions — giving them pan-European distribution or product capabilities. European PE is disciplined on pricing but consistently deployable for quality assets with recurring revenue and defensible market positions.
Pan-European revenue and customer diversity
Amsterdam businesses with revenue across multiple European markets — Germany, France, the Nordics, Benelux — are significantly more attractive to both strategic and financial buyers than those concentrated in the Dutch domestic market. Cross-border revenue demonstrates scalability, reduces single-market risk, and widens the acquirer universe to pan-European consolidators.
GDPR compliance as a baseline, not a differentiator
Buyers — particularly US buyers acquiring European businesses — conduct rigorous GDPR diligence. A clean GDPR compliance posture is a baseline expectation, not a differentiator. Data processing agreements, consent mechanisms, DPA registrations, and data breach response procedures all require documentation ahead of buyer diligence.
Management team depth beyond the founder
Dutch buyers and PE funds are particularly focused on management team independence. The Netherlands' strong tradition of professional management means buyers expect to see a leadership team capable of operating the business without the founding shareholders. Founders who have invested in building their management teams — and can demonstrate this during a process — achieve structurally better outcomes.
EU headquarters positioning
For technology businesses, the ability to serve as an EU platform for a US or Asian acquirer is a genuine premium driver. Businesses that are already operating as European centres — with international hires, multi-currency operations, and EU regulatory licences — are better positioned to capture the strategic premium that comes from serving as an acquirer's European entry point.
Also in the Netherlands
We advise businesses across the Netherlands
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