Owner Baronie is opposed to the sale of the Dutch drinks group

The Dutch family business Nolet Group may be in trouble in its attempt to acquire shares in the Dutch drinks group Lucas Bols. Nolet owns approximately thirty percent of Lucas Bols.

Nolet’s public offer offers a premium of 73 percent on top of the stock price. Such premiums are usually 25 to 35 percent above the stock price.

But the minority shareholder Enix may not relinquish its stake of more than 21 percent in Lucas Bols. This is what businessman Fons Walder says in Het Financieele Dagblad (FD), who has transferred his interest in Lucas Bols to the Belgian investment company Enix. Walder is also the big man behind the chocolate company Baronie, in fact the Bruges holding company Sweet Products.

“You can have multiple shareholders to properly support a company”, he says in the FD. At the end of last year, Walder expanded his interest in Lucas Bols from more than fifteen percent to 21.62 percent. He says in the FD that he bought more shares to “be stronger in the final position, so that we can make our decision freely.”

Management and the commissioners accepted the Nolet family’s offer at the beginning of October 2023. The business family says it will honor the offer if seventy percent of the outstanding shares have been tendered. If 95 percent of the shares are registered, the company has the right to buy out the remaining shareholders. If that percentage is not achieved, Nolet still wants to take the drinks company off the stock exchange. The family’s offer runs until February 7.