Exact acquires WinBooks

Welcoming leading Business Software Supplier to the Exact Group strengthens solution portfolio, market presence and reach in Belgium.

Wemmel / Louvain-La-Neuve, 17 December 2019 - Exact announces the acquisition of WinBooks, a Belgian accounting and business management software company, from operational shareholders and Vectis Private Equity. The combination of the two businesses in Belgium creates a best in class accounting and business software solutions provider and confirms Exact’s commitment to invest in serving the needs of accountants and SMEs in Belgium. In particular, this acquisition allows Exact to significantly strengthen its presence and market reach beyond Flanders, in Brussels and Wallonia, where WinBooks is a well-established business and has a market leadership position.

WinBooks will be managed as a separate business within the Exact group, allowing the company to remain focused on supporting its reseller partners and serving the needs of its customers. The team will continue to operate with its existing leadership and company structure allowing the team to further their already impressive results and achievements in Belgium.

Exact is fully committed to backing the network of WinBooks resellers that play a crucial role in supporting the ongoing success of WinBooks and their customers in Belgium. Winbooks started offering accounting software in 2000 and is based in both Flanders and Wallonia, and has a total of more than 20,000 customers.

Exact has been active in Belgium since 1989 and launched its cloud-based accounting solution Exact Online in 2006. In recent years WinBooks has also introduced cloud-based solutions alongside its established on-premise solutions. The two companies now have the most comprehensive range of business software solutions for SMEs and their Accountants. Together they are able to accelerate product innovation and to respond more quickly to emerging business and technology trends.

"WinBooks is a well-known and trusted brand in Belgium, which is a strategic growth market for Exact," says Exact-CEO Phill Robinson. "We have the ambition to double our revenue to 500 million euros over the next five years, and Belgium is an essential part of this strategy. We are delighted that Jean-François Cuylits and Pierre Borremans will be part of our management team and continue to lead the WinBooks business and will bring with them, their invaluable knowledge of the Belgian market”.

"We look forward to joining the Exact group and continuing the growth of WinBooks together," adds Jean-François Cuylits of Winbooks. "We will work in close cooperation with our reseller partners, as we have done in recent years, to ensure that our customers continue to benefit from their support and expertise.” Pierre Borremans adds: “I am delighted that Jean-François and I will continue to lead and manage the WinBooks business within the Exact Group. Together with Exact, there is opportunity for us to offer a broader range of products to the Belgian market both on premise and in the cloud.”

Exact and WinBooks will not be releasing any specific financial details about this acquisition. Degroof Petercam acted as financial advisor to the shareholders of WinBooks in this transaction.

In June 2000, the market of accounting and business management software became acquainted with WinBooks, after several years of investment in research and development. Jean-François Cuylits and Pierre Borremans, who have been active in the software sector since the beginning of their careers, have always had one priority: to propose simple user solutions that allow the optimisation of the Fiduciary- Customer relationship. A principle that they are still striving for after all these years and that ensures the lasting success of WinBooks. The Belgian group WinBooks is based in both Flanders and Wallonia, with an equal distribution of the equity portfolio between the two parts of the country. With 20,000 customers, WinBooks is a major player in the accounting and business management software sector in Belgium, as well as in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.