International investment flows have been a feature of the Benelux region for the past 20 years. A succession of deals has seen banks, oil and energy companies either acquiring or typically, being acquired by, competitors from larger economies. International expansion is at the core of every successful Belgian or Dutch company.

For acquirers, the region is attractive because it has provided variously, a benign tax environment, a source of technological innovation and a working population which is open to cross-border co-operation. As a result, much of the large-scale consolidation has played out, but Benelux remains a place where international companies look when seeking good-quality assets to add to their portfolio and this is creating a healthy volume of mid-market transactions.