2023-05-26 11:42:00
Is Wallonie Entreprendre (formerly SRIW) regarding to withdraw from the capital of the only Walloon “unicorn” (unlisted company whose value exceeds 1 billion euros)? This is what information published this Friday in Litter et The time. Our colleagues indicate that the financial arm of the Walloon Region might “materialize the success of the Odoo nugget” by selling part of its stake. With, as a result, a very juicy added value.
The Walloon Region is a shareholder in Odoo, a software publishing company open source for SMEs, for ten years. Wallonie Entreprendre still holds 8% of the shares. The last change in Odoo’s shareholding dates back to April 2022. The French investment fund Sofinnova Partners then decided to sell its stake (which the Xange fund had already done a year earlier). At the end of this “exit”, the American venture capital fund Summit Partners owned 24% of Odoo’s capital. The two Walloon public shareholders, Wallonie Entreprendre (8%) and Noshaq (2%), had retained their stake. As for Xavier Niel, boss of Free (Iliad group), he still owns 0.8% of Odoo. For their part, Fabien Pinckaers, CEO and founder, and members of the company’s management control 65% of the capital.
The value of the Walloon “unicorn” Odoo has jumped from 2.2 to more than 3 billion euros in less than a year
According to information collected by Free, the scenario mentioned by our colleagues is indeed on the table. But nothing says that the operation will materialize… Given the commercial success and the rate of growth at which the Walloon company is developing, the current shareholders are constantly solicited by investment funds. However, we are told that negotiations “more thorough” would be in progress between Wallonie Entreprendre (WE) and several funds interested in entering the capital of Odoo. “WE might sell a small part of the 8% it has in Odoo, tells us a source familiar with the matter. If the operation materializes, it will be before the end of June”. On the side of Noshaq, another source says that nothing is excluded regarding a partial sale of the shares held in Odoo.
Wallonie Entreprendre has already recovered its stake
Whatever happens, the Walloon public shareholders will achieve an excellent financial operation with Odoo. A year ago, the company founded in 2002 by Fabien Pinckaers was valued at more than 3 billion euros. And, despite the ebb in valuations for several months, some believe that the value of Odoo is now close to 4 billion euros… However, Wallonie Entreprendre has invested “only” 10.3 million euros in Walloon Brabant society. Even better: during previous capital changes, Wallonie Entreprendre would have already recovered 11 million!
Fabien Pinckaers (Odoo): “If we want to train the entrepreneurs of tomorrow, we have to put IT on the same footing as French and maths”
Over the past few years, Odoo has established itself as a leading provider of integrated software solutions for businesses. With a turnover of 275 million euros in 2022 and an organic growth of 65% per year, Odoo currently has nearly 3,000 employees worldwide, including 1,100 in Belgium. Odoo serves a global community of 10 million users.
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