Antwerp/ Munich — Gimv acqui­res a majo­rity stake in the fast-growing Alro Group, a specia­list in indus­trial coating of car and truck parts. The tran­sac­tion is part of the succes­sion plan for the family busi­ness — Gimv is taking over the shares from the foun­ding family Thijs. The current manage­ment remains on board and supports the company’s further growth ambi­ti­ons with its reinvestment.

Alro Group (Dilsen-Stok­kem, Belgium, www.alro-group.com) was foun­ded in 1976 by the Thijs family. The company has grown from a small coating company to a renow­ned group with seve­ral bran­ches in Western and Central Europe. The group specia­li­zes in coating and pain­ting plas­tic or metal vehicle parts.

Alro is charac­te­ri­zed by strong custo­mer orien­ta­tion and diverse coating tech­no­lo­gies, enab­ling it to respond flexi­bly and quickly to the growing demand for custo­mi­zed solu­ti­ons. With about 1,000 employees and around 20 coating lines, the company has signi­fi­cant capa­ci­ties. These process over 100,000 products per day on modern produc­tion lines using data-control­­led proces­ses. Today, the custo­mer base consists of a large number of well-known names in the car and truck industry.

As a Tier 1 supplier, the Alro Group relies on strong custo­mer rela­ti­onships: OEM truck manu­fac­tu­r­ers appre­ciate the relia­ble supply (just-in-time / just-in-sequence), the high flexi­bi­lity in pain­ting in over 1,000 colors and the assem­bly of nume­rous diffe­rent parts. Recently, Alro Group also deve­lo­ped an inno­va­tive solu­tion for coating battery housings for elec­tric vehic­les. The company is thus ideally posi­tio­ned to bene­fit from the expec­ted strong growth of the elec­tric vehicle market. In addi­tion, the Alro Group is respon­ding to the incre­asing demand for contras­ting colors, which enable auto­ma­kers to further perso­na­lize the appearance of their vehicles.

Since the start of the new manage­ment team, the company has under­gone a posi­tive trans­for­ma­tion, focu­sing on incre­asing value crea­tion and flexibility.

Increase deli­vered value-add and focus on grea­ter flexi­bi­lity. The invest­ment by Gimv is inten­ded to help imple­ment the growth plans and support the profes­sio­na­liza­tion course of the company’s management.

Chris­to­phe Van Quicken­borne, Part­ner in Gimv’s Smart Indus­tries team, descri­bes it as follows: “Alro Group comple­ments a whole range of Smart Indus­tries invest­ments in advan­ced manu­fac­tu­ring compa­nies at Gimv. Through our expe­ri­ence with other successful invest­ments in the auto­mo­tive sector, we under­stand the importance of far-reaching flexi­bi­lity and product diffe­ren­tia­tion — making compa­nies prefer­red part­ners to their OEM custo­mers. Toge­ther with Alro’s manage­ment, we intend to further leverage the group’s strengths and gene­rate addi­tio­nal growth. Alre­ady, compre­hen­sive data control, strong engi­nee­ring capa­bi­li­ties, and high flexi­bi­lity and custo­mer focus are key differentiators.”

Jan Crae­nen, CEO of Alro Group, adds: “We are convin­ced that with Gimv we have gained a very relia­ble local part­ner with exten­sive know-how in the auto­mo­tive indus­try. The tran­sac­tion is an important step in the further deve­lo­p­ment of Alro. The helm will remain in the hands of the current manage­ment team, which toge­ther with Gimv will focus on further growth and inno­va­tive solu­ti­ons for custo­mers. On behalf of the entire manage­ment team, we would like to thank the Thijs family for their trust. Our thanks also go to Kumu­lus Part­ners for their expert support in this tran­sac­tion. And last but not least, our thanks go to all the employees of Alro Group, without whom we would not be where we are today.”

The tran­sac­tion is subject to custo­mary condi­ti­ons, inclu­ding appr­oval by the compe­ti­tion autho­ri­ties. Further finan­cial details will not be disclosed.