Private individuals can still buy part of Hema | Financial

Investor Parcom and Mississippi Ventures, the investment vehicle of the Jumbo family Van Eerd, have been close to the acquisition of Hema from a group of creditors since October.

Crowdfunding group Koop de Hema then said it had good discussions with them about further support for the retail chain.

Earlier, the action group called on people to donate money to buy the company from foreign creditors, but that offer had no chance of success. Creditors took over Hema from billionaire Marcel Boekhoorn, in exchange for lowering the company’s heavy indebtedness. Those debts became unsustainable when the corona crisis resulted in declining sales figures for Hema.

Depositary receipts and shares

The idea now exists that private individuals with a preference for the typically Dutch chain can invest money in Hema in addition to Parcom and Mississippi. They receive depositary receipts for shares for this.

“These are a kind of derivatives of shares,” explains co-initiator Mei Li Vos. “In principle, it is primarily about dividend. So certificate holders can share in the profit in exchange for their investment. But there may also be some form of control. For example, there are already people who say that they want a certain old garden chair in the Hema again, ”said the Senator for the PvdA.

Behind Koop de Hema is the Hena foundation, which stands for The Only Dutch Initiative. The foundation has set up its own investment fund on the alternative stock exchange Nxchange in which private individuals can invest to acquire a piece of Hema.

‘Happy with fans’

At this moment 1300 people have done this, but according to Vos there is a much larger group of 13,000 interested people. She could not yet say how much money has been raised.

Exactly how the collaboration between HEMA fans and professional investment companies will go will only become clear after the acquisition by Parcom and Mississippi is certain. This is expected to be discussed further in January.

Ton van Veen, financial director of Jumbo and representative of Mississippi, is enthusiastic. “We are very happy with the support of all those involved Hema fans, it shows us how popular the Hema is and that gives us confidence for the future.”

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