Jury M&A Awards 2026

A small group of experienced dealmakers, advisors, experts and academics is selected to cast their votes for each of the Awards categories.

You can read this year’s Regulations here. 

Our Jury

Lieve Creten (Chairwoman)

Former co-founding partner of the Belgian M&A practice at Deloitte and currently chair at Quest for Growth and Unibreda as well as independent board member at Barco, CFE and Montea.

Lieve Creten has been a partner at Deloitte in Belgium for more than 20 years. She was one of the founding partners of the Belgian M&A practice, working for national and international investors in various sectors. She headed the Financial Advisory business as managing partner from 2008 till 2019. During this time, she also served as a member of the executive committee of Deloitte Belgium. In addition, she was part of the global executive team of Deloitte Financial Advisory from 2015 until 2021, focusing on talent related matters.

Mrs. Creten is currently chair at Quest for Growth and Unibreda as well as independent board member at Barco, CFE and Montea. She also works as an executive advisor in M&A, finance and strategy.

Mrs. Creten holds a master’s degree in business engineering from the University of Leuven (Belgium) as well as a postgraduate degree in tax sciences. Since 1995, she is a certified public accountant.

Lieve Creten joined the jury of the Belgian M&A Awards in 2023. She took over from Urbain Vandeurzen, who was the chairman of the jury for 5 years.

Sophie Manigart

Professor in Entrepreneurial Finance, Vlerick Business School and Ghent University

Sophie is Professor and Faculty Dean at Vlerick Business School and advisor in entrepreneurial finance, venture capital and private equity.

Sophie Manigart holds a degree in Civil Engineering and an MBA and is a Doctor in Management (Ghent University). She is professor and faculty dean at Vlerick Business School and professor at Ghent University. She was/is Visiting Researcher at the Wharton School of Business (University of Pennsylvania, USA) and visiting professor at london business school, IE Business School (Madrid) and ESMT (Berlin).

She has published on entrepreneurial finance, venture capital, private equity and entrepreneurship in journals such as Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Business Venturing, Journal of Management Studies and Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, and authored numerous book chapters and cases. She is Associate Editor of Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, a leading scientific journal.

Sophie Manigart joined the jury of the Belgian M&A Awards in 2021.

Renaat Berckmoes

Co-Founder and Partner Fortino Capital

Renaat is extremely skilled in financial matters and brings a relevant connection to the financial world.

Renaat Berckmoes is a founding partner at Fortino Capital Partners. Fortino Capital manages €1.2 billion across venture and buyout strategies. The venture strategy backs innovative B2B SaaS and AI companies from early to Series A stages, while the buyout strategy accelerates transformative, organically growing businesses through strategic and operational support.

Renaat is a Non-Executive Director at SFPI/FPIM, the Federal Holding and Investment Company of Belgium.

Prior to joining Fortino, Renaat has served 13 years as CFO and Treasurer of the Telenet Group. Prior jobs include: Treasurer EMEA Solutia (1998-2001), KBC Bank (1993-1998) and Antwerp University (1991-1993). Renaat holds a Master in Political Sciences (KULeuven 1988) and Business Economics (UFSIA 1990).

Renaat Berckmoes joined the jury of the Belgian M&A Awards in 2018.

Michaël Sephiha

Journalist Mediafin/De Tijd

Michaël Sephiha specializes in mergers and acquisitions (M & A), private equity and corporate governance and has been working as an editor at Mediafin / De Tijd in Belgium since 2003.

Michaël Sephiha joined the jury of the Belgian M&A Awards in 2018.

Pierre Demaerel

Former Secretary General of Private Capital Belgium and Chairman of the Belgian Growth Fund

Pierre was Secretary General of Private Capital Belgium from 2016 till 2022 and is Chairman of the Belgian Growth Fund.

From April 2016 till mid-2022, Pierre Demaerel was Secretary General and board member of the BVA.

In December 2015, he completed a 33 year career with BNP Paribas Fortis (and its predecessors Generale Bank and Fortis Bank), occupying both specialist and managerial positions in several key business areas, encompassing:

• 5 years in the credit risk environment as a senior loan officer an later as Head of Corporate Desk;
• 5 years as co-Head of Corporate Finance and Financial Engineering in the early nineties and later as Manager when the activities with MeesPierson were merged into Corporate Finance & Capital Markets;
• 3 years managerial experience in retail and commercial banking as Regional Head of the Waasland region;
• more than 10 years in private equity, first (1993-1995) as Director of the Vlaamse Investeringsvennootschap (in an ’emerging market’ context) and later contributing actively to the roll-out of a vast PE-business plan as from 2000, gaining valuable insight and experience in fund management and as a board member in European investee companies;
• 6 years as Business Operating Officer for the Brussels’ Specialized Financing platform (Export, Project, Corporate Acquisition and Leveraged Finance for the EMEA region).

Pierre holds a Master’s degree in Law (KU Leuven 1980) and an MBA, Business Administration and Management (Vlerick Management School 1981).

Pierre Demaerel joined the jury of the Belgian M&A Awards in 2018.

An Vermeersch

Chief Vaccines Programmes and Markets Officer at Gavi, the Vaccines Alliance, and member of the board at Gimv

An Vermeersch has over 25 years of experience in the Pharma and Healthcare sector, working at GSK and at McKinsey & Company. She held senior global roles in Strategy, Integration & Transformation, Research & Development, Governmental Affairs, Commercial and Access.

Throughout her career, she built experience in deal making, mergers and acquisitions, finance and strategic partnerships. She held executive committee and board of directors roles at GSK Biologicals and several non-executive board member roles. Since 2017, she is non-executive board member at Gimv.

An Vermeersch holds a master’s degree in biochemical engineering from the University of Ghent (Belgium) as well as an MBA from the Vlerick Management School.

An Vermeersch joined the jury of the Belgian M&A Awards in 2024.