Gimv

Gimv

Gimv is a European investment company with over 38 years’ experience in private equity and venture capital. The company is listed on Euronext Brussels. Gimv currently manages around 1.6 billion EUR of investments in about 50 portfolio companies, jointly realising a turnover of about 2 billion EUR and employing over 13 000 professionals.

As a recognized market leader in selected investment platforms, Gimv identifies entrepreneurial and innovative companies with high-growth potential and supports them in their transformation into market leaders. Gimv’s four investment platforms are: Connected Consumer, Health & Care, Smart Industries and Sustainable Cities. Each of these platforms works with a skilled and dedicated team across Gimv’s home markets of the Benelux, France and Germany and can count on an extended international network of experts.

www.gimv.com

Acquisition prices in Belgium reach absolute record heights

Date: 07/06/2018

The Belgian mergers and acquisitions market gradually seems to be reaching its peak. It is not just the number of transactions but also the selling prices which rose for the fifth year in a row in 2017. The highest valuations are found in the real estate sector followed by pharmaceuticals, technology and healthcare. The demand is greater than the supply and competition is increasing. In addition, more and more foreign players are showing an interest in Belgian companies. In view of the anticipated further growth in 2018, there is a danger of overheating. These are the main conclusions of the M&A Monitor, an annual survey which involves over 150 Belgian mergers and acquisitions experts and advisers.
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Investing in healthcare: 3 growth stories

Date: 20/04/2018

At the latest Healthcare Innovation boot camp, Bart Diels, Head of Health & Care at Gimv, gave a guest lecture on how the investment company guides healthcare players along their growth path, based on its own strategy and specific Health & Care strategy. Three different players, three different growth stories: ‘buy-and-build’, ‘hub-and-spoke’ and international expansion. Our students asked pertinent questions.
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“A Trojan horse? No thanks!”

Date: 07/02/2018

Many family businesses aren't making full use of the potential of private equity. Is it because they fear what they don't know? Or are they worried that bringing a financial investor on board will be like inviting in a Trojan horse? A ‘meeting of minds’ between Professors Sophie Manigart and Miguel Meuleman, Dr. Jeroen Neckebrouck and Koen Dejonckheere, the CEO of investment company Gimv.
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Belgian companies more frequently taken over by foreign players

Date: 08/06/2017

In contrast to a decreasing trend on the international mergers and acquisitions market in 2016, the Belgian M&A market has experienced further growth, particularly with regard to medium-sized and smaller deals. The demand exceeds the supply. Although transaction prices are rising, they are still acceptable. Anyone wishing to sell a profitable business these days can easily find a buyer. This can be explained by the fact that bank financing has become easier, as well as increased interest by foreign players in Belgian companies.
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“Look beyond the figures”

Date: 14/02/2017

Professor Robert Boute invited Bart Cauberghe, Managing Partner & Head Smart Industries from our Chair Partner Gimv, to present the Punch Powertrain project to our full-time MBA students on 17 January. During a 90-minute lecture Bart took his audience on a bumpy and at times hilarious journey, explaining how in just seven years a low-performing supplier of automatic transmissions was turned into a highly attractive company worth 1 billion euros. “Not by financial ‘tricks’, but by operational improvements.”
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Strong growth in Belgian mergers and acquisitions market

Date: 29/09/2016

2015 and the beginning of 2016 were characterised by a pronounced increase in the number of transactions in the Belgian mergers and acquisitions market. Demand is greater than supply, stimulated by easy and cheap access to finance and greater availability of financial resources to investment companies. Furthermore, the persistently low interest rate environment means there is increased interest from family investors, wealthy individuals and foreign private equity funds in Belgian medium-size enterprises. It is therefore not surprising that the prices paid are increasing across all sectors and business sizes. These are the findings from a survey of 142 Belgian mergers and acquisitions experts into their experiences over the past year.
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Optimist or opportunist?

Date: 14/06/2016

Recent research by Veroniek Collewaert, Professor of Entrepreneurship, has shown that entrepreneurs’ over-optimism towards a possible investor cannot always be put down to an ‘enthusiastic belief in their business’. Sometimes prognoses are deliberately presented in an excessively rosy light. Peter Maenhout, the Head Connected Consumer at our Chair Partner Gimv, the regional investment company in Flanders, explains: ‘Just give us the “raw data” of an entrepreneur who knows his market.’
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Family companies more open to private equity

Date: 24/03/2016

‘Keep it in the family.’ The time-honoured motto of family companies has applied less and less in recent years, and that includes their funding. All around us we see increasing transparency and openness to the outside world, and family companies today are not immune to this. Recent research in cooperation with our Chair Partner Gimv provides a nuanced picture of family companies and their attitude to private equity.
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