October 22, 2020
12:02
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The West Flemish developer of solar parks Origis will pay its main shareholders Paul Thiers and Filip Balcaen no less than 64 million dollars (54 million euros). The two entrepreneurs keep the majority of the shares in the company.
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Origis is originally from West Flemish, but is active in several European countries and especially in the US. Behind the company are Paul Thiers, the ex-CEO of Unilin, and Filip Balcaen, the ex-owner of the carpet group Balta and of the vinyl giant IVC. They each owned 36.5 percent of the shares of the group so far. The rest is with CEO Guy Vanderhaegen.
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The appendices to the Belgian Official Gazette show that the company pays them 64 million dollars (about 54 million euros). This flows to the companies Pentacon and Baltisse, which are respectively owned by Thiers and Balcaen. The payment is made through the takeover by Origis of a small portion of the shares of the duo. Thiers and Balcaen will continue to hold the majority together after the transaction.
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Italian deal
The operation follows the sale by Origis of its operations in Italy and Slovakia late last year. The investment fund ForVEI II reportedly bought the affected solar parks – 34 in Italy and 1 in Slovakia – for an enterprise value of approximately 130 million euros. These parks have a capacity of 41 megawatts.
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Origis has a significant presence, especially in the US. Through its American subsidiary, the West Flemish developer of solar parks has grown into a top five player in the United States in recent years. He has parks in several states, including one in Florida, which provides green power at the Disney World amusement park. The financial giant Global Atlantic, a former subsidiary of Goldman Sachs, has owned a minority stake in Origis USA, the US subsidiary of Origis, since late 2018.
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Pentahold
Origis is not the only project in which Thiers and Balcaen are active together. They are – including Philippe Vlerick – in the capital of the investment company Pentahold. He is, among other things, a shareholder in the chain of garden centers Oh! Green, from the manufacturer of optical sorting machines Optimum Sorting and from the chemical company Devan Chemicals.
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Pentahold was baptized years ago by Balcaen, Thiers, Edmond Müller (ex-CEO Les Moulins de Kleinbettingen), Marc Saverys (shipping company CMB) and Philippe Vlerick (UCO, vice-chairman of KBC). Saverys was replaced in 2014 by Theo Roussis, the strong man of the plastics group Ravago.
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