Copyright © BusinessAMBE 2023

The Flemish government is selling its 27.8 percent stake in the holding company Gimv to Worxinvest, the parent company above hr service provider SD Worx. Gimv announced this Thursday evening.

SD Worx thus becomes the new "anchor" of the originally political project, which grew over the years into an investment company of European scale.

In the news: exit Flanders from Gimv.

  • The 27.81 percent stake is being sold to Worxinvest for 375 million euros, or 48.36 euros per share. That represents a premium of 10 percent over the closing price on Nov. 30.
  • The Flemish government is satisfied with the price. Beforehand, the stake was estimated somewhere between 300 and 400 million euros. "The price offered is a nice boost for Flanders and is fully in line with the average Gimv share price over 10 years," said Flemish Minister of Finance and Budget Matthias Diependaele in an announcement.

Anchoring

Zooming in: When the sale plans came out in February of this year, it quickly became clear that the Flemish government preferred to sell to a local party. This has now been found with Worxinvest/SD Worx.

  • Diependaele: "WorxInvest is a dream buyer. The company is anchored in Flanders and has the expertise with similar investments. The link with Flanders was crucial for me and was therefore included in the selection criteria. With this sale we are consolidating the Gimv in Flanders."
  • "As an active reference shareholder, WorxInvest will fully support Gimv's activities and ensure continuity and anchoring in Flanders," executive chairman Filip Dierckx (ex-Fortis) assures.

The history: Gimv - formerly known as "the GIMV" - originated in 1980 as the Gewestelijke Investeringsmaatschappij Vlaanderen, a government holding company that had to financially support Flemish companies.

  • But over the years the company transformed itself from a holding company focused on Flanders into a venture capitalist investing in dozens of European companies, with the intention of exiting after a few years.
  • The link with Flanders thus became looser and looser; Gimv has also been calling itself "a European investment company" for some time.
  • The Flemish government's stake fell in steps - including an IPO - from the original 100 percent to the current 27.81 percent.

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