With the arrival of A&M, the Belgian M&A advisory landscape is entering into a new phase

"I've seen this market up close", says Age, who spent years inside the Big Four before leading Alvarez & Marsal's Benelux team. "Belgium rewards those who aren't afraid of putting in the hours and getting into the details. That's really how you win trust here: by having local presence, building the local connectivity, and being committed for the long run."

Now that market momentum has returned as political uncertainty lifts and interest rates decline, A&M is seeing a lot of new requests for support from clients in this region. "We've been helping clients in Belgium for years", Age explains. The focus has increasingly shifted towards business services, healthcare, and software deals, sectors where A&M's operational expertise provides clear differentiation. "But, establishing a proper, boots-on-the-ground presence needed the right person; someone who could make an impact locally, not just drop in from Amsterdam whenever needed."

Enter Joeri Snijers. Having invested his formative career years in the Big Four, Joeri saw firsthand the strengths of the old guard: structure, resources, and brand muscle. But, over time, he felt the limitations more acutely: less space to put his stamp on a project, less scope for acting as a true partner to the client and making an impact.

He explains that the appeal of a more direct, visible, and genuinely accountable way of working kept growing until the decision made itself.

Joeri Snijers

For A&M, finding Joeri was also the missing piece: a Belgian native with Big Four pedigree, entrepreneurial drive, and crucially, the ability to navigate Belgium's relationship-driven market. "You can't serve Belgian clients properly just by parachuting in a brand name", Joeri echoes Age. "People want a real partner who understands how things are done, who goes beyond the formalities and actually connects."

And the validation came quickly. Age points out that: "Joeri's been with us only five weeks now and we're already working on two sales processes.”

Shifting momentum, maturity, and market logic
Ask anybody active in Belgian deals (private equity, corporates or family offices) and a clear pattern emerges in how expectations are evolving. Today's clients are seasoned, coming into deals already equipped with strong opinions and a desire to help shape the process. "When I started, clients wanted us to bring everything from A to Z. Today, especially with private equity, they want to be actively part of the process, see interim deliverables, and have senior people involved throughout”, Joeri explains.

This sophistication extends to deal preparation itself. Where Belgian companies once approached the market with basic financials and hopeful projections, today's sellers invest heavily in ‘exit readiness’.

"In the past, a customer data cube hardly existed, just some invoices with little detail", Joeri explains. "Now everyone has detailed sales and margin data. But the commercial and operational data doesn't always reconcile with the financials. So you see more preparation; making sure everything's cleaned up before they go to market, so when investors open this up, it immediately gives a good view of the business."

The result? More competitive processes, but also higher-quality transactions. "A few years ago, everything you threw on the plate was almost sold before it hit the plate", Joeri notes. "Recently, you see smaller deals asking for vendor assists or VDD support. The market's become more selective."

The Big Four: still heavyweights, but no longer the whole game
The Big Four still handle a lot of the market's biggest and most complex deals, particularly in large-cap industrials and cross-border transactions. "For years, the Big Four were doing all the big deals, working with the key private equity funds and major corporates", Age recalls. "There was nobody else who really was at that level."

Age Lindenbergh

But times have changed, particularly in the €50-500 million deal range, where operational expertise matters as much as analytical horsepower. "Six or seven years ago, I'd never have guessed I'd be working on a newer entrant", Joeri admits. "But you see these firms now, growing like crazy, doing big deals, building a reputation. They've become a real alternative for clients."

The challenge for any large firm comes down to execution under pressure. "They have scale, but sometimes you don't get the right mix of experience on a deal", Joeri says. "Because they've grown so much, they need activity to keep everyone occupied. Sometimes you don't have the proper team mix, or the team doesn't get proper guidance. Everything works out in the end, but the process becomes super frustrating for clients."

When that frustration builds, clients explore alternatives. "They go to find a better offering somewhere else. They see with newer firms that they have a partner supporting them throughout; that's the game-changer."

Talent as the ultimate advantage
Both Age and Joeri are adamant: talent is what sets market leaders apart in Belgium, where clients expect to work with experienced advisors, not simply rotating teams.

"Without talent, we are nothing", Joeri puts it bluntly. The new Brussels presence has also meant homecoming for several Belgians who previously worked from Amsterdam: "Now, they can help deliver sizable deals for major European PEs right here. There’s real hunger among juniors to gain international experience without relocating; the best want both a global platform and deep local delivery."

What does transparency look like in practice? For A&M, it means clear revenue-sharing, real international mobility, and advancement based on contribution, not just time served. As Joeri notes, "This generation wants to see real, tangible progress. They’re not climbing a ladder with missing rungs. If you show them a path and treat them as valued contributors, they’ll repay it with loyalty and effort."

A&M’s reliability was the deciding factor for Joeri. "Age and the team didn’t just talk a good game; they said, ‘You are our guy, we believe in you, and we want to move forward together.’ It was a great feeling. They backed up every promise with real action, so what we agreed to in conversation actually happened in practice."

Community, relationships, and local credibility
If Belgian M&A has a secret ingredient, it’s trust built over time, and often over a handshake at a crowded Brussels event. The cultural nuance matters more than outsiders might expect, Joeri acknowledges. "There's always a bit of scepticism towards foreign firms approaching Flanders. Professional services are a people thing. You need the local person to go around speaking in your own language – maybe throw in a little bit of dialect – just to make those connections."

For Age and Joeri, the M&A Awards Belgium and M&A Community Belgium has been essential not just for recognition, but for forging real partnerships. “A large number of people relevant to us are either members or closely follow the community,” Age shares. “It’s not about the logo: it’s about showing up, doing the work, and letting your actions speak.”

In fact, Joeri’s first real conversations with Age happened at one of these industry gatherings. “Belgium is still about relationships. People compare who they’ve actually worked with, not just who pitched them the best deck. Those dinners and chats matter, especially after so many digital meetings during the pandemic.”

So even though the rules of the Belgian’s M&A road may be shifting, the winners are easy to spot: firms with partners who stay at the table, who combine sector insight with global reach, and who see the value in every conversation – both formal and informal. That’s the difference Age and Joeri bet on.

"Clients want us with them on the ground, calling things as they are", Age concludes. "If you bring real commitment, and a bit of stamina for those sharp corners, Belgium’s market gives you every chance to succeed."

For those who still care about the craft - and show up for every twist and turn - the ride is only just getting interesting.