# Waterland Waterland is an Asset Manager based in Bussum, Netherlands. ## Overview - **Organization type:** Asset Manager - **Headquarters:** Bussum, Netherlands - **Region:** Europe - **Address:** Bussum, North Holland, Netherlands - **Founded:** 1999 - **Assets under management:** Undisclosed - **Website:** waterlandpe.com - **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/waterland-investment-services-b-v ## About Waterland launched in 1999 when founder Rob Thielen left his investment banking career to build an independent private equity firm focused exclusively on European mid-market companies. Headquartered in Bussum, Netherlands, the firm expanded methodically across the continent and now operates from 12 offices, including Antwerp, Copenhagen, Dublin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, London, Manchester, Munich, Oslo, Paris, Warsaw, and Zurich. The firm raises capital through closed-end funds targeting institutional investors, with a consistent focus on transformational buy-and-build strategies in fragmented industries. Waterland targets four investment strategies: majority buyouts, growth equity, distressed debt, and secondaries. The firm concentrates on four core sectors — leisure, hospitality, and travel; business services; healthcare and senior care; and sustainability and environmental services. Waterland's hallmark is aggressive consolidation: acquiring platform companies and then supplementing them with bolt-on acquisitions to build regional or pan-European champions. Historical portfolio companies include reBuy, Berlin Packaging, and Octime Group, with the firm frequently partnering with family-owner-operators and corporate carve-out sellers. Geographic reach spans the UK and Ireland, Benelux, DACH, Nordics, France, and Central and Eastern Europe, with dedicated local teams in each market. Waterland has raised successive fund vintages, most recently closing Waterland Private Equity Fund IX at €4 billion in commitments in 2022 (per Bloomberg, 2022), bringing total capital raised since inception to over €14 billion. The firm employs more than 200 professionals across its network. May 2022: Announced the final close of Waterland Private Equity Fund IX at €4 billion, exceeding its target and marking its largest fundraise to date (per Bloomberg, 2022). Adjacent to its core investment operations, Waterland maintains a charitable foundation supporting social and cultural initiatives in its operating regions. Waterland's structural differentiator lies in its geographic decentralization paired with a single, repeatable playbook. Unlike many European GPs that manage deals from a central hub, Waterland embeds local investment teams in each of its 12 territories who originate, execute, and manage acquisitions under one unified investment committee. This architecture enables simultaneous execution of buy-and-build strategies across multiple European countries and sub-sectors — a rare design that blends local autonomy with centralized capital allocation. ## Sectors - Buyout - Growth - Distressed Debt - Secondaries & Special Situations ## Offices - Antwerp, Belgium - Copenhagen, Denmark - Dublin, Ireland - Düsseldorf, Germany - Hamburg, Germany - London, United Kingdom - Manchester, United Kingdom - Munich, Germany - Oslo, Norway - Paris, France - Warsaw, Poland - Zurich, Switzerland ## People - Rob Thielen — Founder ## Questions ### Who runs investment decisions at Waterland? Waterland's investment decisions are made by its central Investment Committee, which reviews and approves all deals across its 12 offices. Founder Rob Thielen established the firm but has since transitioned day-to-day leadership to a multi-generational partnership group including Managing Partners across European regions. Specific committee members and current leadership are disclosed in fund marketing materials and regulatory filings. ### How does Waterland source proprietary deal flow? Waterland sources deals primarily through its decentralized network of 12 local offices, each staffed with investment professionals who cultivate relationships with family-owned businesses, corporate carve-out candidates, and local intermediaries. The firm's emphasis on buy-and-build consolidation in fragmented sectors — particularly leisure, healthcare, and business services — generates a steady pipeline of add-on acquisitions from existing platforms. Its long track record in Europe also attracts inbound proprietary opportunities from entrepreneurs seeking succession or growth capital. ### Does Waterland participate in fund commitments or only direct deals? Waterland's core strategy is direct control and growth equity investments, not fund-of-funds commitments. The firm acquires majority or significant minority stakes in platform companies and then aggressively pursues add-on acquisitions within those platforms. Its secondaries strategy focuses on acquiring portfolios of LP interests and direct secondary transactions, which is separate from its primary buyout fund series. ### Which sectors does Waterland explicitly avoid? Waterland does not publicly disclose a rigid exclusion list but has historically avoided sectors outside its four core domains: leisure, hospitality, and travel; business services; healthcare and senior care; and sustainability and environmental services. The firm has shown little appetite for deep technology, heavy industrial manufacturing, energy extraction, or financial services, preferring fragmented service-based industries amenable to consolidation. ## Related profiles - [Waterhouse VC](https://altss.com/profile/waterhouse-vc) - [Waterland Private Equity Investments](https://altss.com/profile/waterland-private-equity-investments) --- Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/waterland Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology