Dutch investor just missed buying DigiD company heading for U.S. takeover

A Dutch investor made a bid to acquire Solvinity, the company behind DigiD, but was narrowly outbid by an American party, the director of the Dutch company told EenVandaag. With a few million euros extra, DigiD could have remained in Dutch hands, he said, asking that his company not be named. Several parliamentarians have asked for an explanation from the caretaker Cabinet.

Solvinity will now likely be acquired by the American multinational Kyndryl. In the past week, several parliamentarians and experts have expressed serious concerns and criticism about such a critical system ending up in American hands. Solvinity manages the digital platform on which the government runs DigiD, the digital ID with which millions of Dutch people file their tax returns, make their doctor appointments, and pay their health insurance and municipal bills, among many other things.

Experts warned that the acquisition could mean that DigiD data falls into the hands of the U.S. government. It also poses the risk of the U.S. government blocking access to DigiD. The U.S. has laws that allow the government to request data from companies or prevent companies from servicing certain clients.

Several parliamentarians are aghast that there was a missed opportunity to keep DigiD in Dutch control, after a parliamentary majority instructed the Cabinet to do just that.

“Parliament was clear: we must remain in control of our own data,” GroenLinks-PvdA MP Barbara Kathmann told EenVandaag. “That there was a serious option to keep DigiD Dutch and that it was passed over is therefore absurd and incomprehensible.” GL-PvdA posed parliamentary questions to have this investigated. “We must fight to keep DigiD in Dutch hands.

CDA parliamentarian Jantine Zwinkels would also like an explanation of how this happened, but doesn’t only blame the government. “With increasing geopolitical tensions, we must reduce dependencies. Then you can also expect the Dutch companies involved to make different choices,” Zwinkels told the program. “It makes me even more curious about Solvinity’s consideration.”

Kyndryl’s acquisition of Solvinity is not yet a done deal. The supervisory body, the Investment Assessment Bureau (BTI), still has to approve it. Part of the approval or lack thereof is an investigation into whether the acquisition could seriously impact DigiD accessibility. The investigation could take months.