Amstel Lease has seen various changes since its parent, ABN
AMRO, was acquired recently. Brian Rogerson catches up with its CFO
and discovers the true meaning of cost savings
As 2007 drew to a close, RFS Holdings, the company jointly
owned by Royal Bank of Scotland, Fortis and Banco Santander, won
the battle to acquire ABN AMRO. Among the orderly separation of ABN
AMRO’s business units, Fortis, the Belgo-Dutch bank, assumed
responsibility for the acquired company’s Dutch and Belgian
operations – including Amstel Lease.
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Amstel Lease has shown healthy growth figures over recent years,
specialising, as it does, in funding a wide selection of assets,
ranging from sea containers to tractors and from plant and
equipment to vehicle fleets. In 2006, it opened a branch in the UK
and brought with it a strong background in European cross-border
deals from its principal base in Belgium and the Netherlands.
The company’s origins go back to 1968, when the Maatschappij van
Huurkoop part of Amsterdam Rotterdam Bank (AMRO) introduced the
Amstel Lease brand. Its name was inspired by its location at the
time – by the Amstel river in the centre of Amsterdam.
There have been many changes over the years, including changes
of location and changes of management. One constant theme, however,
has been the company’s pride in its good working atmosphere and
benevolent attitude towards its staff – some of whom have worked
for the firm for more than 20 years. Since 2006, its chief
financial officer (CFO) has been Maurice Koot.
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By GlobalDataOne early challenge for Koot as CFO was the fact Amstel Lease
was comprised of a number of legacy software systems that were
overdue for replacement. This, linked to the need for more
flexibility in its systems, led to its newly appointed CFO to
urgently to seek an update. The search for the best system, Koot
stressed, was widespread and meticulous.
In November 2006, Koot finally signed a contract whereby Amstel
Lease became the first Dutch company to opt for the SAP Leasing
system. At the time, Koot stressed the importance of the
implementation saying: “Not only will it help us to achieve our
strategic objectives, but it will also help us to meet the wishes
of our clients much faster.”
Dutch-born Koot spent his early professional years doing
auditing work at KPMG before joining KLM and working on its planned
merger with Alitalia, although this never came to fruition. The
aircraft slump following 9/11 meant KLM cut staff by 30 per cent.
Koot, then aged 40 and ambitious to assume chief executive
responsibilities with a company, looked for new opportunities.
He had met Joris Linders, chief executive officer of Amstel
Lease, and found that the two had much in common. Koot recalls: “At
the time, Joris was looking for an executive with experience in
cost savings and administration. I was able to make available the
former, while he was able to supply the finance and banking
experience.”
Small beginnings
Amstel Lease then consisted of one principal operation in the
Netherlands. One of Koot’s first jobs was to establish the new UK
operation. It became apparent that, to ensure expansion, the whole
company’s IT systems would have to be updated.
“To achieve this,” he remarks, “I needed to really discover the
essence of what made a leasing company operate successfully – and
make a profit. Looking to the UK, I noticed that between 20 and 25
per cent of assets were traditionally sold on lease, whereby, in
the Netherlands, the figure was only around 12 per cent. It became
important to increase the penetration of leasing in the continental
operation.”
The choice of the SAP Leasing system came about as a result of
an intensive selection of software packages with the support of
KPMG. “At the same time,” he says, “IBM helped us with the
implementation of the software. One of the most important reasons
for this was the fact IBM had brought together specific knowledge
of leasing in a European Leasing Competence Centre in Germany.”
Merger
The news of the RFS Holdings/Fortis acquisition came, initially,
as something of a disappointment. Koot explains: “2007 was proving
a very good year for Amstel Lease. We were performing at five per
cent better than the rest of the market and had increased our
market share by 3 per cent.
“We had established and were bedding in a new management team,
and the SAP implementation was proceeding to plan. My initial
reaction was that we would now be unable to develop our ideas and
expand elsewhere into Europe. However, Fortis is established in
around 23 countries and there will be sound dividends in the
merging of the two companies.”
Koot stresses the principal aim now is to keep Amstel Lease
growing at the pace it had been prior to the merger. “It is also
crucial,” he says, “to ensure our staff feel comfortable with any
changes for the future – and it has been difficult for them having
to be patient while some units are for sale.
” Koot is confident a strong new company will emerge from the
merger, will benefit from the blend of the two corporate cultures.
“Fortis,” he explains, “is three or four times larger than Amstel
Lease in balance-sheet terms – and is historically strong in
realestate leasing. Amstel Lease, however, is better established
than Fortis in the Netherlands. Although we do not provide
real-estate leasing, we are strong in largerticket deals and
excellent at tailoring complex deals of all sizes.”
Although a time of global credit squeeze is hardly ideal for a
new business enterprise, Koot is optimistic about the future.
“Although we feel the same market restraints as others,” he says,
“there is little loss of business confidence in the Netherlands at
present. Confidence in the Dutch economy remains high.”
A Day in the Life of Maurice Koot
Maurice Koot lives in a small village just outside of Utrecht
with his wife and three sons, aged 12, nine and seven years. Since
his office is in Utrecht, he does not have far to travel to work –
nevertheless, he says he gets into the office “fairly early”.At
present, each morning he gets an update briefing regarding the SAP
Leasing implementation.
He also makes a point of accompanying account managers on their
client visits on a regular basis. Often, the visit will accompany
the presentation of a business proposal. “It keeps me abreast of
what customers are thinking,” he says, “and how our account
managers are performing.”
He receives seven direct progress reports every week with the
object of “keeping up to date with how the department is working
and progressing”. Once a week, he has a meeting with the treasury
team at Amstel Lease,where funding and price-management issues are
discussed, in addition to other topics. Once a month, he travels to
London, Belgium and Germany to visit Amstel Lease operations.
Despite pressure of work, Koot admits that he always endeavours
to return home “with a smile on his face”.
He plays hockey in what he terms a “veterans” team in his
village and plays in a midfield position (and at the time of our
interview he was nursing a sore shoulder – the result of a
particularly strenuous recent contest).
Perhaps his most testing sport, however, is sailing a 40ft
Banner boat and he is in training for the Schuttevaer race. This
involves what he describes as a “Le Mans” start, with participants
undertaking a two kilometre run to the harbour, where they jump
aboard and raise sail immediately (no engine permitted after the
harbour entrance).
Between 40 and 50 boats participate in Schuttevaer, and the race
takes 40 to 48 hours of sailing on a course of 200 miles, cycling
in two stages of 60km and running 21km and 12km at various
locations. “Luckily,” Koot said, “we do this with a team of five
men and we can each take a share of the burden.” It is quite clear
they employ only the toughest people at Amstel Lease.
