Common Ground Corporate Finance is happy to announce the successful acquisition of Assist@home by Trixxo Home.

Common Ground acted as the corporate finance advisor for Trixxo. Trixxo Home is one of the largest “service cheque” companies in Belgium, providing household services to more than 55.000 families. “Common Ground has assisted us over the last two years with several acquisitions in the three Belgian regions based on a pro-active screening of the market and following up on potential opportunities in an organized and efficient way. So far, the acquisition of Assist@Home is one of the largest and most important acquisitions for us over these last years” says Luc Jeurissen, owner of Trixxo Group.

Assist@Home was part of Dutch family company Vebego International and due to a re-orientation of its strategy, “service cheque” activities were no longer core. Assist@Home (and daughter company De Mangelaar) run 24 offices in Flanders, employing almost 1.000 household helps all of them which will become part of the larger Trixxo family.

Trixxo started its activities in 2005 and has since grown into one of the largest actors in this market, thanks to a healthy, respectful and stimulating environment for clients and employees. As well organically as through external growth, Trixxo Home continues to play its role as active consolidator in this market and has the ambition to further grow its presence in Belgium.

For more information: Koen Vanclooster + 32 475 76 52 73

On the buy side, Common Ground assisted The Rental Group (Nl), a Capital-A portfolio company, to complete the acquisition of Novid (B). The Rental Group is active in the professional events industry and through this acquisition, the group acquires a unique and leading position in the Benelux. Common Ground acted as the Corporate Finance advisor for The Rental Group.

“Common Ground’s broad network and persistence/determination in the process were essential to position us as the best strategic option to the sellers and structure a well balanced transaction” says Jan van Dijk, CEO of The Rental Group.

Renasci® is a Belgium based integrated Industrial Waste Recycling and Revaluation Project that offers an integrated solution for global challenges related to waste and biomass management. To this end, the company has developed the Smart Chain Processing® concept, a combination of existing and new technologies that allows the processing of complex waste streams with maximum raw materials and energy recovery. Recyclable products (plastics, paper/card, metals) will automatically be sorted and conditioned for re-use, while non-recyclable materials are converted into marketable end products such as diesel fuel, bio-coal pellets and inerts that can be used as filler in construction materials. A pilot plant based on this concept, with a yearly capacity of 120.000 tonnes, will be built in Oostende, Belgium and will be operational by the end of 2019.

Common Ground Corporate Finance and DC Corporate Finance jointly closed the financing round with the bank BNPParibasFortis, the Belgian insurer Integrale and various private investors.

Luc Desender, CEO of Renasci said: “The financial strength and valuable international network that we have gained through this financing round now offers us the opportunity to develop the full potential of our technology and people. With BNP Paribas Fortis, Integrale and the various private investors selected, we now have active and supportive investors on board that can contribute substantially to our Belgian project and pave the way for future expansions elsewhere in Europe and in the rest of the world”.

Mr. Beaupain, CFO of Integrale (specialized in occupational and private pensions) said “We have been approached to support this exciting and innovative project. Both the ecological need to improve the environment, the technology developed and the quality of the team have lead us to conclude that this was the right project to support and finance. We have been impressed by this challenging project and are proud to be part of it. We’d like to thank Common Ground for introducing Integrale to this transaction”.

VINCI Energies acquires AVT Group, a leading provider of industrial automation and heavy load solutions

 Common Ground is happy to share the successful acquisition of AVT Group by VINCI Energies, the VINCI subsidiary (Euronext Paris: DG) specializing in energy, and information and communication technology. With this acquisition, VINCI Energies further strengthens its strategic position in the Belgian market. VINCIEnergies has a strong local presence and agile organisational structure with a revenue of €10.8 billion (2017) and 69,400 employees in 53 countries.

AVT Group is specialized in industrial automation (from robotic integration projects over factory automation to custom made machinery), in heavy load handling and logistic solutions for internal transport (from free moveable platforms to automatic guided vehicles on wheel, rail or air cushions) and in industrial electrical works (including the design, installation and commissioning of medium and high voltage cubicles).

The Group has headquarters in Essen near Antwerp, subsidiaries in Germany, China, France and The Netherlands and employs 65 employees.

CommonGround acted as the exclusive advisor to AVT Group.

“Common Ground listened to our specific needs and understood our unique positioning. Their broad experience and expertise in M&A deal structuring was very instrumental in finding a balanced and satisfying result. The network structure of VINCI Energies will enable AVT to accelerate growth ambitions both in Belgium and abroad”, says Luc Van Thillo, CEO and previous shareholder of AVT Group.

Common Ground Corporate Finance is pleased to announce the successful raising of a 9,5 Million Euro bank debt financing for the Polish Real Estate affiliate of ILD.

Common Ground acted as the exclusive Corporate Finance advisor for ILD and its Polish Real Estate affiliate, Obild Sp. zoo. “Common Ground’s knowledge and experience of the international banking landscape was very instrumental to position Pekao Bank as the most suited banking partner in relation to this project and to set up a 9,5 Million Euro long term Construction and Investment Loan for this Real Estate Project of ILD in Poland, ” says Filip Vanelstraete, CFO of the ILD Group.

ILD Group (www.ild.eu) is a Belgium based industrial real estate developer with a significant expertise and experience in industrial development, more specifically in Central Europe and Poland. Although its recent development activities have been located more in the Czech Republic and in Slovakia, it also has developed industrial facilities in Poland in 2010 for Greenyard Logistics (Univeg) in Buk (Poznan area) and for Teutonia in 2012 in Włocławek.

In 2017, ILD Group got a real estate development mandate from the Oschmann Group (Germany) to build a production plant and warehouse in Sulęcin (Poland) for the manufacturing of comfort beds and box spring mattresses. The 9,5 Million Euro Construction and Investment bank Loan will be used to finance the construction of these facilities .