The number of deals in Belgium peaked last year to 32 billion

But without the transactions involving the oil tanker shipping company Euronav, the value of the deals is meager.

This is calculated by the Belgian business newspaper De Tijd. Last year, the number of deals in Belgium had a value of 26 billion euros. The deals in the tanker world together amounted to 4.2 billion euros. The Saverys family bought out the Norwegian shipowner John Fredriksen, Euronav sold 24 ships to Fredriksens Frontline and a few days ago bought CMB.Tech from the Saverysen.

The top deal in Belgium involved the government’s sale of its share in the French banking group BNP Paribas. This deal was worth 2.16 billion euros.

Two deals involving SD Worx also attracted attention. Together they were worth 775 million euros. This involved the investment giant CVC’s entry into the HR service provider for 400 million euros, and the entry of its main shareholder WorxInvest into the investment company Gimv worth 375 million euros.

Due to the higher interest rates, there were fewer private equity deals. An exception was the purchase by the French PAI of the infrastructure specialist Infra worth approximately one billion euros.

Two companies disappeared from Euronext Brussels: Liberty bought out the minority shareholders of Telenet and a subsidiary of TPG bid for real estate group Intervest Offices & Warehouses.