The three dimensions of mid-market enterprise value · NL + ES + DACH · €5–120M

Hidden Value. Hidden Risk. Hidden Waste.

For owners and acquirers of businesses €5–120M — through growth, MBO/MBI, buy-and-build and exit.

Six diagnostic products that operate above your data team and your ERP — in the six structural gaps neither can reach.

Gino Smit — founder, GLO25 Project Services

20 years of cross-border experience, 5 languages. I know these situations from the inside — growth, MBO/MBI, buy-and-build and the pre-transaction window: where hidden value, risk and waste sit, and how to make them visible with source-checked figures before anyone uses them against you. I work on your file myself, no intermediary layer.

We map what is missing glo25.com

01 · The Premise
Most owners discover
what’s hidden too late.

From growth to a grip on margin, cash and enterprise value.

The diagnostics work at every phase — ongoing operations, growth, MBO, MBI, buy-and-build and exit — and serve owners as well as acquirers.

18–36
Months
Pre-transaction — where the stakes peak

The diagnostics apply at every phase — this is simply where the stakes run highest.

Pre-transaction is the window where what you find can still be repriced. Once due diligence opens, valuations crystallise — and the same findings become deductions applied by the buyer, not by you.

We map what is missing
Hidden value typically exceeds 0.5× reported EBITDA multiple in exit-ready firms.

02 · The Frame
Three dimensions.
One diagnostic.
Every mid-market firm carries a mix of all three. They co-vary with ownership structure, cross-border footprint, and time-to-exit.
Hidden Value · Dimension 01
What you already own,
but nobody’s pricing.
  • Unvalued real estate and IP
  • Revenue durability mispriced under simple multiples
  • Governance premiums recoverable at exit
  • Customer-cohort durability invisible in P&L
1
Hidden Risk · Dimension 02
What a buyer will
discount you for.
  • Compliance exposure (Bibob, ILT, sector permits)
  • Customer concentration above buyer thresholds
  • Succession and key-person dependency
  • Technology debt and substitution gaps
  • Cross-border operational friction (NL ↔ ES)
2
Hidden Waste · Dimension 03
Effort that returns
zero value.
  • Safety-Theatre — controls nobody uses, reports nobody reads
  • Data-Nobody-Uses — pipelines feeding zero decisions
  • Coordination overhead from intent–execution gaps
3

03 · The Architecture
Above the data layer.
Above the ERP.
LAYER 3 · GLO25
Six diagnostic products
HiTa™ · Kennisgraaf™ · GLO Predictus™ · Bottleneck SNIPER™ · Algorithm Audit™ · REVERSO™
LAYER 2 · ERP
Baan / Infor LN
Executes what you enter. No mechanism to verify the right question.
LAYER 1 · DATA
Your analysis team
Answers the question it receives. Does not challenge the brief.
What your data team does Where GLO25 operates
Answers the stated questionDetects whether the stated question is the right one
Finds correlations across hundreds of variablesIsolates the single causal binding constraint
Extrapolates historical patterns forwardReverse-engineers from the desired end-state back
Works with tables and time seriesWorks with entity-relation semantics (knowledge graph)
Analyses internal dataDetects external signals (BORME, KVK, M&A, regulation)
Builds modelsAudits models independently — AI Act / DORA / bias
Simulates historical scenarios (Monte Carlo)Simulates multi-agent behaviour with individual agency per stakeholder

04 · The Six Products
How GLO25 finds it.
1
Product 1/6 · HiTa
HiTa™
Hidden Task Detection
“Your team answers good questions. We detect whether it’s the right question before you spend three months on it.”
Duration1–2 weeks
The right question in weeks, not wasted months
Product specification →
2
Product 2/6 · Kennisgraaf
Kennisgraaf™
Knowledge Graph as Infrastructure
“Your team sees numbers per silo. We map the relations between silos in a queryable graph your team then uses as its own infrastructure.”
Duration2–4 weeks
Silos linked in one queryable graph
Product specification →
3
Product 3/6 · GLO Predictus
GLO Predictus™
Multi-Agent World Simulation
“Your team tells you what happened. We simulate what your counterparties, suppliers and regulators do when you move — with their own agency.”
Duration48–72 hrs
Second-order effects seen before you move
Product specification →
4
Product 4/6 · Bottleneck SNIPER
Bottleneck SNIPER™
Theory of Constraints
“Your team shows 20 suspects. We isolate the one causing 80% of the damage — in five working days.”
Duration3–5 days
The one constraint behind 80% of the damage
Product specification →
5
Product 5/6 · Algorithm Audit
Algorithm Audit™
Independent Model Audit
“Your team builds the models. We audit them independently — exactly what regulators and external auditors explicitly require as second and third line of defence.”
Duration2–4 weeks
Independent model check, AI Act/DORA-proof
Product specification →
6
Product 6/6 · REVERSO
REVERSO™
5-Year Reverse Mapping
“Your team extrapolates from historical data. We start at your desired position in year 5 and reverse-engineer which operational choices must be made today to get there.”
Duration1–2 weeks
From year-5 goal back to today's choice
Product specification →
After delivery
Continuity by request — no obligation built in.
Each product ends when the deliverable lands — no day-rate creep, no scope expansion by stealth. For owners who want a continuing diagnostic presence through the 18–36 month window, GLO25 stays engaged on retainer or per-call basis, with periodic health-checks against the current state. Cadence and shape are agreed per client.
The foundation

The instruments behind every product.

Products and instruments are one team: the products are what you receive, the instruments are the engine that finds it.

Instrument 01
Leontief Input-Output Analysis
Maps the full flow network as a mathematical matrix. Each cell shows the financial coupling coefficient between node pairs. Low coefficients in the billing column are the leakage signal.
Instrument 02 · HiTa™
Hidden Task Detector
Identifies which employees are processing the same dispute, discrepancy or client file simultaneously without knowing it. Calculates the eliminable FTE load per disputed flow unit.
Instrument 03 · Kennisgraaf™
Knowledge Graph
Connects unit ID → party → location → invoice line → credit note in one queryable structure. For every unit in the flow, the exact divergence point between physical and financial stream is visible in real time.

05 · Proof
Two cases. Two outcomes.
✓ Success Case · Boeing + Baan
Process first.
Then software.

Boeing selected Baan in 1994 for 757 production. Before implementation, all processes were documented in flowcharts and best-practice templates were applied.

Result: stock-outs fell from ~350 per day to ~10. 25,000 employees consolidated into one system. Implementation time: half that of comparable competitors.

Boeing did internally at scale what HiTa™ structures as a product: understand the problem before buying the solution.
✗ Fail Case · Lidl + SAP
Software first.
Then the damage.

Lidl started project eLWIS in 2011 to replace its legacy system with SAP for Retail. A fundamental conflict went undetected: Lidl valued inventory at purchase price; SAP standard used selling price.

Final cost: ~€500M. Project cancelled 2018. Seven years without process modernisation.

The stated question was “replace our inventory system.” The real question was “how do we protect our discount DNA while scaling?” A HiTa™ diagnosis would have detected the conflict in weeks, not years.

06 · Sector Applications

Where the method
finds the gap.

The structural mismatch between physical flows and financial flows is not industry-specific. It appears wherever a physical unit — a pallet, a tonne, an hour, a rented asset — moves through multiple parties and generates a billing event at each node. The three conditions below determine whether the diagnostic applies. When all three are present, the leakage is measurable from day one.

01
Multi-party physical flow with a billing event per node
A physical unit moves through multiple parties. Each transfer generates a separate financial transaction. The chain is longer than two parties.
Example: depot → manufacturer → retailer → return → depot
02
Return or reconciliation loop with automatic mismatch
Physical receipt does not automatically trigger correct financial credit. Credit notes stay open, stock counts diverge from invoice counts, or the closing balance cannot be reconciled.
Example: return asset ≠ matched credit note
03
Hidden duplicate handling across the organisation
The same dispute, discrepancy or finding is processed by multiple employees simultaneously — without any of them knowing it. Measurable as FTE overload per disputed unit.
Example: 2.8× employees per disputed unit — measured in engagement
Direct application All three conditions present — no methodological adaptation required
NACESectorStructural leakage trigger
E38
Waste management & recycling
Afvalbeheer / Gestión de residuos / Abfallwirtschaft
Weight at intake ≠ weight at processing ≠ invoiced tonnage. Three parties, three measurement moments, structural divergence at €/tonne level.
N77
Rental of moveable assets
Verhuur / Alquiler de bienes muebles / Vermietung beweglicher Güter
Circular pooling model: asset leaves, is used, returns — return does not automatically trigger correct credit. Every unmatched return is an open balance. Scaffolding, machinery, industrial tooling, medical equipment, pallet pooling.
M69–71
Professional services
Accountancy / Legal / Technical advisory
The hour is the physical unit. At mergers and integrations, structural hour loss occurs: hours double-booked, unbilled, or misattributed. GLO25’s Hidden Task Detector quantifies simultaneous handling per client file. On average 12–18% of billable hours disappears during integration phases.
G46.46
Pharmaceutical distribution
Pharma wholesale / Hospital & pharmacy supply
Multi-party chain manufacturer → wholesaler → pharmacy / hospital with serialised unit tracking (FMD / EU 2016/161). Cold-chain breaks, expired-stock returns, batch recalls and controlled-substance ledgers each generate billing or credit events that systematically diverge from the physical movement. Reimbursement deductions from payors compound the gap.
C25 + C28
Industrial manufacturing & machinery
Mittelstand / Maakindustrie / Manufactura industrial
Multi-tier supply chain (sub-supplier → tier-1 → OEM → end-user → service & parts) with a billing event at each transfer. Warranty and RMA reconciliation: a returned defective unit rarely matches automatically against the warranty credit, the supplier recovery and the field-service work order — the four ledgers diverge by 4–9% of net revenue. Supplier-rebate accruals are double-handled across procurement, finance and BU controllers. Project-margin vs ERP-margin gaps on long-cycle orders are visible from day one of the diagnostic.
H49.4 + H50
Road & maritime freight
Land & sea transport / Logística terrestre y marítima
Loaded weight, weighbridge weight and invoiced weight diverge structurally on land. At sea, demurrage, container return charges and discharge-vs-loading weight mismatches compound the same gap. On multi-leg routes the mismatch accumulates per link in the chain.
H52.1 + H53
Warehousing, 3PL & express logistics
Opslag, distributie & koerier / Almacenamiento y mensajería
WMS stock count ≠ ERP invoice line. Same billing unit as asset pooling (unit × day). Acute at third-party logistics operators with multiple clients per site, and at courier networks where the physical scan stream ≠ invoice line on volume discounts, returns and B2B settlement — with duplicate claim handling on damage and loss.
G46
Wholesale trade (non-pharma)
Groothandel / Comercio mayorista / Großhandel
Return credit notes for rejected or damaged goods systematically unreconciled at multi-item partial returns. Credit note stays open; nobody owns it.
With adaptation Conditions present — sector-specific Leontief matrix structure required
NACESectorAdaptation required
F41–43
Construction & infrastructure
Material flow per project vs progress billing. Variations and rejection are the leakage source. Project-level rather than transaction-level analysis.
C10–12
Food & beverage processing
Weight loss in processing, shelf-life returns, by-product settlement. Leontief matrix applicable to raw material balance.
C20
Chemical manufacturing
Batch-level billing, yield reconciliation, lot tracking. High per-flow complexity but methodologically direct.
C21
Pharmaceutical manufacturing
Batch yield reconciliation, QP release, lot-level tracking and serialisation chain. High GMP and regulatory complexity, but the input-output matrix maps cleanly to bill-of-materials and yield variance — methodologically direct once the dossier structure is mirrored.
K65 + K66.2
Insurance carriers & brokerage
Claims handling is the textbook reconciliation loop — physical loss event ≠ paid claim ≠ salvage recovery ≠ reinsurance recoverable, four parties with a billing event at each node. The same file is touched simultaneously by claims, underwriting, A/R, compliance and recoveries. Adaptation needed because the operating spine is Guidewire / Sapiens / Tia, not Baan — the Leontief matrix maps onto the claim-flow ledger rather than the BoM.
K64.91 + K64.92
Specialty finance & leasing
Multi-party servicing chain: originator → servicer → SPV → investor → borrower. Reconciliation gaps between servicer reports and SPV ledgers cluster around fees, advances, recoveries and modifications — each generates a billing or accrual event that does not flow through cleanly. Hidden duplicate handling in collections, restructuring and waterfall accounting. Adaptation: SPV-level Leontief structure with separate residual / interest / fee strands.
G47
Retail
Reverse logistics: physical return ≠ automatic credit. Scalable at chains with centralised returns processing.
D35
Energy production & distribution
Meter reading vs consumption vs billing. Settlement lag in smart metering and grid balancing. High regulatory complexity.
The three structural sweet spots

Permanent. Sector-wide.
Not solved by adding headcount.

NACE E38 · CNAE 3811–3821
Waste management & recycling
EU Waste Shipment Regulation 2024 (in force 2026) increases tracking obligations — structural legislative driver
Three parties, three measurement moments: weight at intake ≠ processing ≠ invoiced tonnage
Hundreds of mid-market waste management operators in NL/BE/ES — none have solved this structurally
GLO25 Hidden Task Detector identifies who is processing the same transfer document twice
NACE N77 · CNAE 7700
Rental of moveable assets
Circular pooling model: asset out → use → return → credit — identical structure across all rental operators
Scaffolding firms, forklift rental, industrial tooling, medical device leasing, pallet pooling operators
The return reconciliation gap is the same regardless of asset type — structurally present in every rental operator above 50 employees
Every unmatched return is a measurable open balance — visible from day one of the diagnostic
NACE M69 · CNAE 6920
Professional services
The hour is the physical unit. Structural hour loss at mergers, integrations, and capacity shifts
Professional services firm, post-merger — hour loss quantified and recovered
Sector-wide repeatable pattern: every firm in transition has this problem
Average 12–18% of billable hours disappears during integration — recoverable through GLO25 diagnostics
Your sector is on this list. The three conditions are either present or they are not — a 20-minute conversation is enough to determine which. No pitch. No obligation.
Direct message Gino →

07 · Sector deep-dive · NACE C10

Food & process manufacturing —
where the margin leaks.

The five operational pain points that show up most in food & process manufacturing (NACE C10) — and where EBITDA leaks or can be protected. This is a proof slice: one sector now, the rest of the series to follow. Every figure below is labelled for how we know it — a measured source, or a modelled estimate.

Direct answer

In food & process manufacturing (NACE C10) the median EBITDA margin among SEC filers is 4.5%. GLO25 models a +153 bps median (p50) uplift toward roughly 6.0% — with a +202 bps ceiling — by closing five operational gaps: supply-chain blindness, batch traceability, retirement knowledge loss, compliance drag and M&A integration. The baseline is measured; the uplift is modelled, not guaranteed.

EBITDA margin · sector baseline
4.5%
SEC food-processing filers · direct source
EBITDA after GLO25 model · p50
~6.0%
GLO25 model · derived, not guaranteed
Definitions
EBITDAEarnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation — a proxy for operating profitability, before financing and accounting policy.
Operating cash flowThe cash operations actually generate after working-capital movements — EBITDA adjusted for stock, debtors and creditors.
LiquidityWhether cash is on hand when bills fall due. A plant can be EBITDA-positive and still run short of liquidity.
The formula
EBITDA margin = EBITDA ÷ Revenue
  • EBITDA margin — operating profitability as a % of sales
  • EBITDA — operating earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation
  • Revenue — net sales over the same period

Modelled target margin = baseline margin + modelled uplift (in basis points). 100 bps = 1 percentage point. Driver rates and input distributions stay under the IP line.

When this appliesWhen it doesn’t
  • Food or process manufacturers with real plants and batch or continuous production
  • Owners or acquirers of businesses roughly €5–120M
  • A margin question tied to operations, supply chain or integration
  • Pure traders or franchises with no production
  • Pre-revenue or distress-turnaround situations
  • A purely tax or financing question, not operational
Worked example (stated assumptions)

Take a food processor at the sector baseline of 4.5% EBITDA. Closing the ranked gaps models a median (p50) uplift of +153 bps toward roughly 6.0%, with a +202 bps ceiling. Assumptions: SEC-filer sector median, gaps actually closed, one plant’s own baseline will differ. Baseline is a direct source; the uplift is a GLO25 model output, not a guarantee.

Questions we get about food & process manufacturing
What is a normal EBITDA margin in food & process manufacturing?
Among SEC food-processing filers the median EBITDA margin is about 4.5%. That is a measured sector baseline; an individual plant’s margin depends on product mix, scale and supply-chain design.
How much EBITDA can the diagnostic realistically recover?
GLO25 models a median (p50) uplift of +153 bps toward roughly 6.0%, with a +202 bps ceiling, by closing five ranked operational gaps. It is a modelled estimate, realised only if the gaps are actually closed — not a guaranteed result.
Is the uplift guaranteed?
No. The 4.5% baseline is taken directly from filings; the uplift is a model output, clearly labelled as a derivation. We show what the gap is and what it is worth — the engine that computes it stays under the hood.
Book a 20-minute call →

08 · How we work · The method

Our method —
how we actually work.

Five steps, shown as a swimlane: what you see, and what stays under the IP line. We put the shape and the discipline of the method in daylight — the engine itself stays under the hood. There is one step where we hold nothing back: step three, how every figure is labelled.

Direct answer

GLO25’s method runs five steps: source from authority data (SEC and CNAE filings), quantify down to EBITDA, simulate the uncertainty with Monte Carlo, label every figure as a direct source or a derivation, and name the single binding constraint to fix first. The proprietary engine stays under an IP line; the shape of the method and the source-labelling discipline are fully visible.

01
Step 1 · What you see
Source

We start at authority sources — SEC filings, CNAE sector data, public financial records. Nothing begins with a guess; every input has a documented origin before we touch it.

  • Public filings and official sector registers
  • A documented origin for every input
  • No black box at the front door
IP lineBelow this line runs the engine. We show you its shape and its discipline — never its internals.
Definitions
Direct sourceA measured figure that traces straight back to a filing or official record.
DerivationA modelled, reasoned estimate — clearly marked, never dressed up as fact.
p50 vs ceilingp50 is the median simulated outcome; the ceiling is a high, favourable-but-plausible percentile — a model result, not a promise.
The formula
Reported uplift = { p50, ceiling } from N simulated scenarios
  • p50 — median outcome — half the scenarios land above, half below
  • ceiling — a high percentile — favourable but plausible
  • N — thousands of scenarios across each driver’s range

We report percentiles, never a single point estimate. The input distributions and driver rates stay under the IP line.

When the method fitsWhen it doesn’t
  • Owners or acquirers of mid-market businesses (~€5–120M)
  • Real financials and an operational margin question
  • A decision inside an 18–36 month value window
  • Pre-revenue ventures with no filings to anchor on
  • A pure compliance sign-off with no value question
  • A need for a guarantee rather than a modelled range
Worked example (stated assumptions)

For food & process manufacturing we source a 4.5% baseline (direct source), quantify to EBITDA, simulate, and report +153 bps (p50) with a +202 bps ceiling (derivation). Every figure carries its stamp. Assumption: sector-level median — your own numbers move the result.

Questions we get about the method
What does “direct source” versus “derivation” mean?
A direct source is a measured figure that traces back to a filing or official record. A derivation is a modelled estimate. Every number we hand you carries one of the two labels, so you can weigh it accordingly.
Why report a p50 and a ceiling instead of one number?
Because a single number hides the uncertainty. We simulate thousands of scenarios and report the median (p50) as the honest expected outcome and a high percentile as the ceiling — never “you will win X%”.
What stays proprietary?
The engine: the input distributions, driver rates and internal computations sit under an IP line. The shape of the method and the discipline of labelling every figure are fully visible.
Book a 20-minute call →

07 · Sectors, quantified

Twelve sectors, quantified.

Every sector below carries a baseline EBITDA drawn from SEC section-level data, and the one pain point where the margin quietly hides. Food is worked out in full — as the example of how deep the diagnostic goes.

Direct answer

GLO25 quantifies twelve mid-market sectors, each with a SEC section-level EBITDA baseline and the one operational pain point where margin hides. Food & process manufacturing (NACE C10) is worked out in full: a measured 4.5% baseline and a modelled +153 bps (p50) uplift toward roughly 6.0%, ceiling +202 bps. Baselines are direct sources; uplifts are modelled, not guaranteed.

Flagship · NACE C10
Food — food & process manufacturing

Baseline 4.5% EBITDA. Our model lifts that by +153 bps (p50) toward ~6.0%, with a ceiling of +202 bps.

Direct source
4.5% EBITDA · SEC section-level baseline (NACE C10)
Derivation
+153 bps (p50) → ~6.0% · ceiling +202 bps
Worked out in full →
The +202 bps ceiling is a model outcome (derivation · GLO25 model), not a guarantee.
more sectors in development
Definitions
SEC section-level baselineA sector EBITDA margin drawn from the filings of listed companies in that section — a measured reference point.
Basis point (bps)One hundredth of a percentage point. 153 bps = 1.53 percentage points of margin.
The formula
Sector target margin = SEC baseline + modelled uplift (bps)
  • SEC baseline — measured sector EBITDA margin (direct source)
  • modelled uplift — p50 estimate of margin recoverable by closing the sector’s pain point

Only food is modelled end-to-end today; the other eleven show a measured baseline and the pain point. Driver internals stay under the IP line.

Worked out in fullBaseline-only today
  • Food & process manufacturing — baseline plus modelled uplift
  • Your sector next — tell us which one and it is the one we build
  • The other eleven sectors — measured baseline and pain point
  • Full models for those sectors are in development
Worked example (stated assumptions)

Food & process manufacturing: baseline 4.5% (SEC, direct source) + modelled +153 bps (p50) → roughly 6.0%, ceiling +202 bps (derivation). Assumption: section-level median — a single company’s baseline and uplift will differ.

Questions we get about the sectors
Which sectors does GLO25 cover?
Twelve mid-market sectors, each with a SEC-based EBITDA baseline and its main margin pain point. Food & process manufacturing is worked out in full today; the others show a baseline and pain point, with full models in development.
Where do the baseline figures come from?
From SEC section-level filings — measured figures labelled as direct sources. The modelled uplifts are separate, clearly labelled derivations, not guarantees.
Book a 20-minute call →
Your sector not worked out in full yet? Tell us which one — that is the one we build next. No pitch, no obligation.
Interested? →

07 · Three Paths
Which approach. When.
Path A
ERP Only
Direct to Baan / Infor LN
Choose when —
  • Processes stable and documented
  • Executive team aligned
  • Budget for 18+ month implementation
  • Clear industry fit
Path C
Both Parallel
GLO25 as governance layer
Choose when —
  • ERP selection already running
  • Independent diagnosis alongside integrator wanted
  • Lidl-risk (overcustomisation) present
  • Continuous EBITDA validation 18+ months needed

08 · The Position
Your data team answers faster than we ever can.
Baan or Infor LN executes what you tell them.
We make sure both have the right question.
Your data team is the laboratory. The ERP is the operating theatre. GLO25 is the diagnostic consult that determines which test needs to be done — and whether there should be an operation at all.
HiTa™ Kennisgraaf™ GLO Predictus™ Bottleneck SNIPER™ Algorithm Audit™ REVERSO™
contact@glo25.com
+34 672 56 22 61
glo25.com · Amsterdam · Alicante
Are you 18–36 months
pre-transaction?
Direct-message me — confidential, no obligation, no pitch.