28 mei 2022
13:14
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The Ostend businessman Xavier Degroote is leaving the family real estate company that he founded in the 1970s. His three sons give the patriarch two hotels and a mountain of cash.
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The Ostend businessman Xavier Degroote is no longer the figurehead of the construction company he started almost half a century ago. The Degroote group, known as a contractor and developer, was split up in December between the 72-year-old founder and his three sons. This is apparent from documents in the Staatsblad and the family confirms this to De Tijd.
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Xavier Degroote opened the restaurant Xaverius on the seawall of Ostend in the early 1970s because he did not have the money to realize his contractor dream. In 1975, in the middle of the oil crisis, Degroote built his first three homes. After the economy picked up again in the mid-1980s, his company grew into one of the largest property developers on the coast.
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The three sons Pieter (42), David (40) and Jan (39) Degroote each own 15 percent in the family business since 2013. But the family couldn’t agree on its future. While the children wanted to grow and expand considerably, the parents shunned great risks. Therefore, the family decided to divide the empire into three blocs.
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‘We parted ways serenity because the vision of the two generations was quite different,’ says David Degroote. ‘Father didn’t want to stop and had a hard time handing over power. The company has come a long way with the support of all family members. When you’re young, you look at investments from a different perspective.’
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‘Certainly now that our children are in their early forties with ambition and 20 years of experience, it is necessary that each of them can take the wheel into their own hands and realize their visions, which were no longer always the same’, say the parents Degroote in a written response.
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Three parts
In the new constellation, the construction and real estate activities will end up with the Real Estate Group Degroote of sons David and Jan. Both co-CEOs have been in the operational management of the construction company for years. The company realizes about 300 apartments a year in Ostend and the surrounding area, such as the enormous Sky Towers residential complex at Ostend station. Real estate group Degroote experienced strong growth last year due to the high demand for homes on the coast. Turnover rose to 125 million euros. Net profit almost doubled to 33 million euros.
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The five luxury hotels in Bruges that the family has collected over the years are also being distributed. Pieter Degroote, who has been in the hospitality industry for some time, is combining three hotels (Dukes’ Palace, The Peellaert and Prinsenhof) in his company Dukes’ Hotel Collection. The other two hotels (Casselbergh and Aragon) end up with Atavus, the new investment holding company of Xavier Degroote and his wife Hilde Verlinde. On top of both hotels, which are worth almost 50 million euros, the parents will receive 68 million euros in cash.
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The parents want to invest in various sectors with Atavus. ‘Once an entrepreneur, always an entrepreneur’, says Xavier Degroote. The three brothers take a 10 percent cross-shareholding in each other’s companies. ‘One gets a little more freedom, the other a little more money’, David Degroote sums up the deal.
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One gets a little more freedom, the other a little more money.
