Member spotlight: Hans van den Brakel

To get a feel for what ACG Holland is all about, we want to regularly profile our members. Our second member in the spotlight is Hans van den Brakel from Iepenstaete.

Fulfilling dreams is what makes me tick

About me…

I was born and raised in Hilversum and always learned that hard work was the key to getting things done. As I was never one for studying and school only, I started with a number of jobs ranging from stock boy to garbage collector. My professional career began at Van Dien & Co Accountants (now PwC) where I worked for seven years. I then moved to Intercena, which was at that time the head office of the Brenninkmeijer family, one of the richest families in the Netherlands. I worked my way up to become head of the financial department and stayed for another seven years. Leading the financial department, I was responsible for consolidations of all European C&A entities and real estate. I was also involved in the foundation of Redevco, which now manages €7 billion worth of real estate. During this time, I dealt with over 100 entities on a regular basis. In 1997, I was asked to be the CFO of the newly founded Egeria, the private equity fund of the Brenninkmeijer family. I stayed there for 10 years in which time the fund grew from €15m to €500m. In 2007, I left Egeria and founded Iepenstaete.

About Iepenstaete…

Iepenstaete provides financial advice in the areas of corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, growth and value creation among others. Together with my business partner, Albert de Vink, we specialize in complex issues where we can put our broad expertise and experience to full use. Entrepreneurial firms are a particularly strong focus of our firm. We help them in their dealings with banks and other financial institutions. Additionally, we provide direct investment to help them realize their goals.

Why ACG…

By joining ACG, we have become part of an enormous global network of buyers and sellers of companies. This has helped us a great deal in our efforts to explore as many opportunities for our clients as we can. ACG not only makes it easier to find people across the country, but also across the entire world. For a company such as ours, access to a network like ACG’s is of tremendous value.

What makes me tick…

My background has taught me that hard work is key to success. Unfortunately, circumstances are not always as helpful as one would wish and I know the struggles this can cause for entrepreneurs. That is why I now focus on helping entrepreneurs to deal with problems and guide them through the blurry world of institutions and regulations. To stand side by side and help an entrepreneur fulfill his dreams is what really makes me tick.