The merger of ISO and TTA has created a company with two CEOs. Is that special? Jan Bakker and Martin Maasland laugh. They have just discovered during the video meeting that, without consultation, they are both wearing green jerseys. Coincidence, in other words.
The choice of two CEOs is no coincidence. During the merger process, which accelerated last autumn, it became clear that two CEOs had to fit well side by side. "Moreover, a Harvard University study shows that companies with two CEOs perform better," Martin says. ASML, among others, works with two CEOs, and DSM also did it for a while. Great names, and bakery company Rademakers also works with two CEOs, adds Jan.
At the recent trade fairs, Jan and Martin spoke to many people. They often appeared surprised by the merger, but at the same time often indicated that they found it 'quite logical.' The two CEOs now think the merger is too. Jan: "We cannot deny that we met each other more and more often in recent years. We both had a roadmap full of developments and plans. There is definitely overlap in that. In our merger talks, it was obvious. Now that we have merged, we can develop faster together."
Martin Maasland and Jan Bakker at IPM Essen 2025
One common route
The first talks on a merger were held less than a year and a half ago. "It turned out that we weren't ready for it then, but later we got back into talks," says Martin. "Then the idea arose: let's do it anyway. We can achieve so much more if we do it together."
What followed was a "very intensive period" full of conversations about finance, legal matters, personnel matters, and business opportunities. Jan: "Right from the first meeting, we started talking about joint development opportunities."
Martin adds: "But during the merger process, we still couldn't really go into details with each other. Now we can. We are rapidly learning from each other. There has been a surprisingly positive energy, with a lot of knowledge sharing, in a very short time. Now we are going to list the good ideas. From two companies, each with its own route, we have been increasingly drawn together. Together, we are now going to define what our new, joint route will look like."
Step towards harvesting
Eighty to ninety percent of the existing roadmaps will remain, Martin expects. The last ten to twenty percent of developments planned now expect the merging parties to accelerate together. "Both of us are into automation. TTA and ISO both worked a lot with young plants. Both parties were also taking steps towards harvesting."
ISO had long been known for cutting, and TTA for transplants and sorting. "The customer needs both. As a result, we started developing each other's side. Now we can do that together and keep space in our R&D to develop valuable new things."
Markets added
Not that innovations haven't already come out of Gameren and Bleskensgraaf in recent years. For example, ISO made strides with automation for chrysanthemum cuttings, grafting tomato plants, and the latest development presented is the harvest robot for tomatoes. TTA, in turn, brought automation to the market for planting tulips and, with the bHarvest, also for harvesting leafy crops in vertical farms.
The latter sector is directly one in which TTA complements ISO. Conversely, ISO recently took steps with grafting in tomatoes, complementing developments at TTA, which was also working on it. Moreover, it helps that the merger also opens up new markets with techniques developed by one of the parties. Martin: "In markets where one was already strong, we can now also bring the portfolio of the other."
Jan adds: "The great thing about this is that you hardly need to develop anything new in the process. You just get a market like that, as it were."
Talking to partners
The brand-new merged company has drawn up three focus areas on which to concentrate. These are ornamental horticulture, the market in which both parties are traditionally strongest, carbon & fiber (or forestry and paper industry), and food horticulture.
Before the merger, both parties also worked with several other sector players. As soon as the merger became final, key customers and cooperation partners were informed, Martin shares. "During the merger talks, that was not possible. We are now discussing with those parties what our merger means for those collaborations."
With the merger, Cibus, which was already the majority shareholder in ISO, has also become the majority shareholder in the TTA-ISO merger company. "Cibus is Latin for food," Martin says. "Cibus invests purely in food companies, or companies that contribute to them with their techniques, like us. With their fund, they can now make an even greater impact on the sustainable production of food and plants."
Family feeling
The merger means that TTA, which was still a family business without a private equity party on board, is no longer under Eurogroup. Lowpad will continue independently. Jan: "For our organization, it is a slightly bigger change in that sense, although little changes at the site level. The owner of TTA, Simon den Hartigh, remains a shareholder. The family feeling also remains. That is important, and it struck us immediately at ISO as well. There, too, we saw that family feeling during our talks. For us, that is also a reason that this is a good fit."
The merger brings together two companies with roughly 150 employees each, creating one large company with around 300 employees.
Martin: "For many employees, the merger will have little impact. We continue to make the same machines, both in Bleskensgraaf and Gameren. It's not like a factory is closing down now. On the contrary, if we continue our growth, we will soon need more people. Then it is an advantage that we can look for people for two locations."
Wim van der Meijden and Henk Jan van Ooijen at the ISO harvest robot at Fruit Logistica 2025
International
Both ISO and TTA have also grown internationally in recent years, with international branches as well. ISO recently set up a branch in the US. TTA is also based there, in addition to Australia. Jan: "There, we employ three people, and the fourth is on the way." In the Middle East and South America, TTA had just started with a local team. "We are now continuing that development together. And in the US, we will merge our teams into one office."
Thanks to the merger, TTA-ISO expects to start offering even more complete solutions to customers. Jan: "Offering the most complete solution possible, so that we really unburden the customer, that's where we want to go. The more autonomy, the better." Although the merged company will also continue to offer individual machines separately, Martin stresses. "We can now offer integrated systems even better, but we won't become a very large systems integrator in one go either."
ASML is a name that horticulture likes to emulate, especially in the current political-social debate. The big tech giant operates with two CEOs. So TTA-ISO will do the same, on a more modest scale, but by horticultural standards, a technical automation company of serious proportions is emerging.
"Especially in ornamental horticulture, we are one of the biggest, yes," says Jan. "We have become a global leader with this merger." Followed by perhaps also the sobriety and nuance characteristic of both companies. "Although it's just how you look at it. If you look at the carbon and fiber sector, there are much larger companies. But for cutting and sorting, it may just be that companies will soon come to us."
For more information:
TTA-ISO
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www.tta-iso.com