Apax Partners

Independer.nl is a broker for retail financial services products, including health insurance, car insurance, life insurance and mortgages. It is well known on-line but services its customers through multiple channels - on-line, by telephone and off-line.

The Company is the market leader in the Netherlands in its sector, benefiting from its consumer-friendly strategy and positioning. Those efforts have resulted in public service features, the co-production of personal finance TV shows and endorsements from the Dutch government, which has hailed Independer’s consumer-centered and objective approach to advising customers on financial products.

Independer.nl was founded in 1999 by Diederik De Groot van Embden and Edmond Hilhorst. Funds advised by Apax Partners led an early round of funding in 1999 and participated in subsequent rounds of funding which helped the Company to break even in 2004 with annual turnover growth of 30%.

Apax Partners’ Funds invested in Independer.nl because the company had a novel marketing strategy of attracting customers on-line in a country, the Netherlands, of early internet adopters.

With guidance from Apax Partners, Independer.nl survived the fall-out of the end of the internet boom and is now one of the few surviving companies in what had been a crowded field with many competitors. The company’s strategy has shifted, crucially, away from pure on-line product delivery to adding telephone and face-to-face selling while using the internet to generate leads. It has recently diversified into providing advice on healthcare to consumers as well, with Apax Partners’ Funds providing follow-on funds to finance a complimentary acquisition.

Diederik de Groot van Embden, Chief Executive of Independer, said: “Apax really understands the importance of value creation. They have strongly supported the built up of a portfolio of recurring revenues and investments in efficiency enhancements, accepting lower immediate results and favoring long term growth.”