Yet two new candidates for Van Hool takeover
Just when the takeover battle for the bankrupt Van Hool seemed to be calming down, additional candidate acquirers suddenly appear on the scene. After the new bid from West Flemish entrepreneur Guido Dumarey for the bus and coach branch on Monday, the investment company CIM Capital is now also making a bid for the other branch, namely that of industrial vehicles.
This was reported by De Standaard and confirmed by De Tijd.
When the bankruptcy of the company from Koningshooikt was announced on Monday, the further course of events seemed to have already been largely determined: crisis manager Marc Zwaaneveld transferred responsibility to the curators, with a detailed plan for a quick restart after the bankruptcy.
VDL, Van Hool’s Dutch peer, made a binding offer for the bus division and found a partner in the German Schmitz Cargobull, which showed interest in the industrial vehicle branch.
For this last branch, Schmitz has now received last-minute competition from CIM Capital, while VDL already had Dumarey as an opponent. CIM Capital is known as a leading Belgian ‘rescue specialist’ and owns Veritas, Neckermann, and soon most likely Zoute Grand Prix. MandA recently spoke with Erik Verkest, CEO of CIM Capital, about their unique proposition in the Belgian market.
These companies were in financial trouble when CIM Capital intervened. Interesting detail: the founder of this investment company is Marc Van Hool, a member of one of the family branches that were bought out in 2001.
New strategy
Although the fund has a size of 50 million euros, CIM initially seemed too small for the Van Hool file. However, by focusing only on the trailer division, which is valued at 10 to 20 million euros, CIM increases its chances. In addition, the fund has managed to bring an external partner on board for the real estate. CIM promises to retain more jobs and production than Schmitz Cargobull: 500 to 600 jobs at CIM compared to 350 at Schmitz.
The curators are currently evaluating all bids, where, in addition to financial resources and employment, the speed of a possible acquirer will be crucial. This is of great importance, given that all 3,500 Van Hool employees, of which 2,500 in Belgium, have lost their jobs. It is essential that the ultimate acquirers bring these employees back on board as quickly as possible. The longer it takes before a restart takes place, the more former Van Hool employees will have already found work elsewhere. Moreover, there is a risk that customers will drop out if the restart takes too long.
