Alantra advises Cow Hills on its cross-border sale to DL Software

Nov 2022

Sell-side advisory

Alantra, the global investment banking firm, has advised Cow Hills and NewPort Capital (“NewPort”) on the sale of Cow Hills to DL Software, a France-based vertical software provider active in various sectors (backed by TA Associates).

Headquartered in Maarn in the Netherlands, Cow Hills was founded in 2006 and has sales offices in South Africa and Norway. It has since developed into the Benelux market leader of unified commerce SaaS solutions for international online and offline retailers and is currently active in over 20 countries. In the past few years Cow Hills experienced strong growth, which provides a solid foundation to accelerate its international growth strategy together with DL Software.

There is a strong strategic rationale for the transaction, with clear benefits for both companies. Cow Hills and DL Software have complementary software solutions and will be able to leverage each other’s experience, customer base, product development capabilities, international organisation and vision. Cow Hills will operate as a stand-alone business within DL Software and perfectly fits the international expansion strategy of DL Software. Founders Kees van der Veldt (CEO) and Mark de Graaf (COO/CTO) will stay on as Cow Hills’ leadership team.

Alantra was appointed following a competitive pitch process. The deal team, encompassing both local market and global technology sector specialists, applied its industry expertise, close relationships with international strategic players and private equity, and strong process execution skills to achieve a highly successful outcome for Cow Hills and NewPort.

Rob van der Laan, Managing Partner at NewPort, said, “We have known the Dutch Alantra team members for some time. Having performed a detailed RFP, we engaged Alantra for the exit of Cow Hills, a software company in our portfolio. We were impressed with the quality of their work and the integrated approach of both the local team and the international software team. They really work as a team, with team-wide, international commitments.”

Kees van der Veldt, Cow Hills CEO, said, “Alantra’s expertise and global reach were key in finding us the best partner who shared our ambitions for Cow Hills. The guidance and total commitment we received from the Alantra team throughout the process were key to achieving a great deal. All of us at Cow Hills are very excited to continue our growth story and to join forces with DL Software as we feel this is the best way to secure our long-term strategic goals.”