2023-05-02 16:56:00
The recurring rumors regarding a change in Degroof Petercam’s shareholding were revived last week by the Archyde.com agency, which announced that the Belgian bank had called on an outside adviser to assist it in examining the various offers. Three possible candidates for a takeover are cited: ING, Crédit Agricole and Belfius. Archyde.com mentions a valuation of around one billion euros.
Following this information, the Board of Directors of Degroof Petercam indicated that “it has been advised that some existing shareholders would like to increase their stake in the company and that other existing shareholders may review their current position. In this context, a mandate was given to an investment bank to carry out an external assessment of the company and analyze how a restructuring might be beneficial to the interests of the company”. He also made it known that he would not “any other comments on this”.
Ambitions of Marc Raisière
At present, Degroof Petercam is controlled by a group of shareholders made up of the historical family shareholders (Philippson for Degroof and Van Campenhout and Peterbroeck for Petercam), the family holding company Cobepa and Cobelfret (the holding company of the Antwerp shipping family Cigrang). The latter entered the capital in 2010. He bought 11% of Degroof shares for an amount of 130 million euros. He continued to acquire shares in the bank and would be the only controlling shareholder not to be a seller.
On the side of potential buyers, it is the name of Belfius that comes up most often. We know the ambitions of its CEO, Marc Raisière, in terms of private management. However, it is said that the bank, 100% owned by the Belgian State, would not want to buy the Luxembourg subsidiary of Degroof Petercam, which employs around 300 people out of a total of 1,468 people in 2021. Will the public shareholder give is there the green light for this takeover? Opinions are divided. Some believe it, others much less. “How to convey such an acquisition to public opinion and, in particular, to the members of the Arco group (Editor’s note, one of the Dexia shareholders close to the CD&V) who did not obtain any compensation following the dismantling of Dexia”, asks a banking analyst. Everything might therefore depend on Marc Raisière’s ability to persuade. On the side of Belfius, we make no comment.
ING’s potential candidacy is surprising insofar as the bank positions itself in Belgium as a banking platform, which increasingly puts local service in the background. As for Crédit Agricole, which is the parent company of the Axa-Crelan group, it has so far shown little desire to develop in the private banking business.
As for the price of one billion, it corresponds to the valuation of Degroof in 2015, i.e. before the merger with Perercam. For a shareholder like Cobepa, who entered the capital at a higher price, this therefore seems very low. Even too low?
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