How did Moore Belgium become the largest independent accounting and consulting firm in Belgium through buy-and-build?
You probably already knew that Moore Belgium is extremely successful. You only need to walk around any city to realise that. There's a good chance you'll spot a Moore Belgium office. But how did Moore Belgium become the largest independent accounting and consulting firm in Belgium through buy-and-build? Philippe Craninx, Managing Partner Corporate Finance and M&A at Moore Belgium, explained it during the Private Equity Summit 2025.
The story of Moore Belgium begins in 1967, when Marcel Verschelden founded an accountancy firm. In other words, he started working in a small room in his parents' house with one landline telephone, one typewriter and one calculator. His brother Frans joined him in 1974.
From a family business to a partnership
For decades, the company remained a family business with Marcel, Frans and, after a while, Marcel's son Peter Verschelden on board, who would later become the head of the company. At a certain point, Frans and Marcel went their separate ways. "On good terms," Philippe Craninx emphasised to the captivated audience in the room. "But while Marcel's ego wants to do consultancy, Frans's ego wants to focus on audits. That happens sometimes, doesn't it? (laughs)"
So in 1990, Frans continued with his own company... until Marcel Verschelden retired in 2008. Marcel and Frans' companies became one again: Moore Stephens Verschelden, as Frans' company was now part of the international Moore Stephens network. That wasn't the only merger. "The reunited company wants to offer a wide range of complementary services. To this end, Moore Stephens Verschelden has carried out several mergers and acquisitions since 2013. I see my own activity fitting perfectly into that story, so my own corporate finance boutique also merged with it", Philippe recalls.
Five years later, in 2018, the first M&A operations were completed. "From then on, we continued as a broad partnership in which the six core partners together hold the majority of the shares. The family is therefore no longer the main shareholder. Psychologically, this is an important step for a family shareholder, but we saw the broad partnership with the right motivated people as a crucial condition for successful buy-and-build."
A new investor comes knocking
Just as the whole country went into lockdown in 2020, Moore Belgium, as the company is now called, received a call from Waterland Private Equity Investments. The Dutch investment company wanted to invest in Moore Belgium.
“At that point, we had already grown into a strong market player”, Philippe continued. “But we saw challenges ahead: the war for talent, the rapid digital revolution, the growing need among companies for a one-stop shop and the ever-increasing demand for complex advice. For larger players with more resources and a broad customer base, these challenges turned into opportunities. We therefore continued to pursue our buy-and-build strategy in order to grow further. When we entered into discussions with Waterland, it became clear that we share the same vision and professional DNA. We trust them. The momentum is there. So we moved forward quickly with Waterland."
Five years later, Moore Belgium has completed more than 70 (!) integrations, which is about one per month. Every year, the partnership absorbs several million euros in turnover. The number of partners has grown from 35 to 155 in five years. Total turnover has almost quintupled in five years, reaching 250 million euros in 2025. "After five years, Waterland could have made an exit, but that is not the case. We now not only share a vision of how we want to continue to grow in Belgium through buy-and-build, but we also want to be the European market leader for medium-sized companies with international ambitions."
"Our total turnover has increased almost fivefold in five years, to €250 million in 2025."
Okay, but how is Moore Belgium succeeding in this?
What makes Moore Belgium so successful in implementing its buy-and-build strategy? Philippe Craninx: "Two months after joining forces with Waterland, we were already making another major acquisition. This was mainly down to intuition. I knew the company very well and knew that it was a good fit. In that first phase of buy-and-build, we mainly focus on ideas and proposals for M&A that we receive spontaneously."
But Moore Belgium soon began to structure the processes for buy-and-build. This way, it goes through all the necessary steps each time, both during the buy and build phases. The latter phase deserves just as much attention as the former, according to Philippe Craninx: "Provided you make the right choices for acquisitions, the buy phase obviously delivers significant value. But the value you create with build is a multiple of that."
How does Moore achieve a successful buy?
"The most important thing in the buy phase is the cultural and strategic fit. The difference is made by what you can achieve afterwards with the people from the acquired or merged company. So we screen every company we set our sights on extensively in advance to make sure the fit is right."
Moore Belgium assesses each candidate for an acquisition or merger in three areas. "First, we look at the People. Are you a good fit for us as a partner, partner group, team, or individual? Do you share our values and standards, our culture? Then we focus on the Plan. Do we have the same vision of what we want to achieve tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, and how? During discussions about the plan, you have to make sure that you and your discussion partner mean the same thing and see things in the same way. For example, Waterland initially thought that by ‘accountancy’ we meant ‘bookkeeping’. That misunderstanding only came to light when we were working on an acquisition. That’s not a problem if you and your partner trust each other enough. But it’s better to avoid it.”
"It's best to nip misunderstandings about what you mean by certain words in the bud. That takes time and sometimes a bottle of wine to loosen tongues."
Price is only the last consideration at Moore Belgium. Philippe Craninx: "We pay the right price, taking into account a sustainable ebitda, the future way of working and the costs of integration. If you think the price isn't right, then frankly, your future may not be with us. We do negotiate, but not too much. We focus primarily on getting the right people on board, with the right vision and drive."
So how does Moore achieve a successful build?
As already mentioned, Moore Belgium takes a highly structured approach to build, invariably going through several phases. "That in itself is very important for successful integration and build." But it doesn't stop there. As with buy, Moore Belgium also applies a number of important rules to build.
"To begin with, we believe that the right people should become equity partners", Philippe continues. "That means people with the right technical and people skills, values and behaviours, commercial skills and leadership abilities. If we believe that junior partners are better placed at the same level as a senior partner within a company we want to acquire or merge with, we indicate this. These are difficult but necessary conversations."
But the team that Moore Belgium acquires also has to go through a transition. "If all goes well, the teams we take over are loyal to their office and employer. But suddenly that office is part of a larger organisation. We then have to graft that loyalty onto Moore and our DNA. To ensure that employees also feel at home with us, we invest a lot of time in an integrated human capital approach. We do not offer creative remuneration systems, but we do offer a lot of training, which helps people develop. Every employee can also acquire shares in the organisation. The only condition is that you have been with us for three years."
Moore Belgium wants to fully integrate the processes and systems used, but that is often easier said than done. "The problem, for example, is that the companies we acquire may work with many different accounting packages. If their customers are used to one package, we cannot simply migrate them to another."
And what about the brand name of the acquired or merged company? Philippe Craninx: "What we want is to focus on our one brand, Moore, and our one brand promise. To achieve this, you need to spend enough time integrating intangible assets. After the acquisition or merger, our new employees must uphold our values and standards, deliver on our promise to customers, follow our way of working and feel every day that they are part of Moore Belgium."
What does the future hold?
To conclude, Philippe gives us a glimpse of how Moore Belgium and Waterland intend to continue growing tomorrow through buy-and-build. "On the one hand, we want to focus more on our clients' problems, to which we offer solutions based on the various regulated professions we practise. On the other hand, we want more than ever to be the partner abroad that medium-sized companies from Belgium can turn to when they open branches there." High time to discuss all this further over delicious coffee and chocolate mousse.
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