KooKoo co-founder Margot Desseyn fell in love with dealmaking because of the people; now she brings them together to discuss the strategies behind making these deals a success, and will join the M&A Community Belgium on 24 September 2026 in Antwerp to do it again.
After earning her master’s degree in commercial engineering, Margot Desseyn began her career at Roland Berger in Brussels (in 2015), laying the foundation for her future as a strategy savant. “I worked on a broad range of topics, including due diligence, growth strategies, and integration trajectories – the functional topics,” she shares.
Margot rose to senior consultant at Roland Berger in 2019 before moving to Solvay, where she gained experience as a corporate strategy analyst and manager. In 2023, when the business split into two independent companies, the division Margot worked in spun off and became Syensqo.
She was subsequently appointed as director of strategy and strategic marketing for the €500 million business, focused on aroma chemicals. In 2024, Margot moved to the Personal Care business, where she led strategy and growth projects. “Those last two years were when I really got involved with M&A growth strategies, such as how you buy-and-build, how to integrate a target, etc,” Margot mentions.
She describes M&A as “a people’s business”, which is why she enjoys it:
“There is an analytical aspect to M&A, as well as a problem-solving part, and also a team element. You have to get everyone aligned, while making sure you can deliver what you had in mind.”
This ultimately inspired her to join her two co-founders – Simon Stremersch and Ellis Broos – in launching KooKoo in 2025 and is what keeps her motivated. “That’s for me where KooKoo brings something special. We focus on everything that involves growth, and M&A is one of the means to do so,” she says.
Because of her background, Margot deals with KooKoo’s Manufacturing and Heavy Industry clients. Her favourite part of the job is getting to know the teams from a new business. “I talk to a lot of different people with a lot of different views, which is how I familiarise myself with the trends in our industry,” she reveals.
This is especially important in the sectors she has consulted in. “Manufacturing companies in Europe do not always have it easy, due to high energy and production costs. Innovation and consolidation are some of the ways they are navigating these challenges.”
M&A at the top of the growth agenda
How to stay competitive and generate sustainable growth is a key topic in the industry, so it’s a topic Margot takes head-on in her role at KooKoo (an M&A Community Belgium partner). At the end of June, she hosted a roundtable for leaders from across the heavy industries sector dedicated to discussing value creation in M&A.
“We put together CEOs, heads of M&A and strategy, as well as operating partners from the private equity space and started unpacking the challenges, solutions and opportunities we all face,” she tells. The group split into two so everyone could have an opportunity to share and engage, then came together for a delectable dinner that closed off the evening.
Margot explains that everyone walked away with very practical insights around M&A, including: “M&A is not easy – there’s a lot of things to manage, especially when you’re involved from origination to implementation – but it can still bring benefits difficult to achieve through organic growth.”
Integration and cultural alignment are crucial
The room identified several key success factors together, at the core of which sat people and implementation. “Poor implementation will destroy every business plan you have in mind,” Margot elaborates. “When you acquire a company, your management team’s first and most important priority should be ensuring transparency around your plans for its future – even before signing.”
Fittingly, the leaders around the table suggested meeting with people in person over a meal to talk to them transparently about what’s going to happen and make sure everyone is on board. They concurred that culture can make or break a merger or acquisition. “If there’s a very big gap between the two companies’ cultures and you try to integrate, you’re for-sure going to fail or lose a lot of people in the process.”
Margot emphasised that it’s important to assess whether you have the right people early. “If you feel like you don’t have the right people on board, trust your gut and take the tough decision. Don’t wait too long and hope for things to change.”
This assessment will also tell the buyer how much they need to integrate without killing the value proposition that attracted them in the first place. There were interesting discrepancies in the dinner delegates’ opinions as to which approach worked better: “Some people suggested a hard-and-fast approach, others encouraged taking it slow-and-steady and there was also the option to not integrate at all,” Margot recalls, arguing that the best approach is to look at it case by case.
Ultimately, however, they asserted that dealmakers have to follow through on their decisions with discipline to achieve it.
Acquisitions are a people’s business
Margot notes that staying objective and focused was also part of the dialogue; like how to balance between being super excited about a deal and still making sure you don’t overpay, for example. “You spend a lot of time investigating the target, then you fall in love with it, and you tend to ignore the red flags, or you figure you’ll deal with it along the way,” she explains.
The leaders in the room recommended setting very clear KPIs or boundaries and using boards as a mirror. “People who are less involved in the day-to-day activities of the company or the deal can give you a different, more rational perspective, too,” Margot mentions.
She circles back to what her career has time and time again proven: If you have access to the right people early on, it increases the likelihood of success – you have more information and can put together a better valuation before signing or closing the deal.
Margot will be joining the M&A Community Belgium roundtable taking place at the Strategy Forum in Antwerp on 24 September 2026. During this session, M&A directors from leading corporates will exchange their experiences on the strategies delivering results today, too.
Under Chatham House Rules, participants will discuss how they are sourcing opportunities, creating value and navigating an increasingly complex deal environment; from platform acquisitions and buy-and-build to minority investments, partnerships and international expansion.
After the roundtable, these dealmakers join up with their peers, investors and advisors to discuss the decisions, frameworks and lessons that enable organisations to build successful growth plans over time.
Register and join the conversation!
