A NEW CHAPTER IN
A GROWTH STORY Some eleven years after it was taken into private ownership Belgium’s Ontex is a public company once more. It sees its new access to capital markets as a key advantage in improving what is already an impressive growth performance. Peter Mercer reports.
IN
June of this year, Ontex, the Belgium-based manufacturer of hygienic disposable products, completed a successful IPO on the Euronext Brussels exchange. A total of some 33 million shares were sold, resulting in gross proceeds of about €600 million. “This was a landmark day for Ontex, its employees, customers, consumers and shareholders as the business returned to the Euronext exchange,” says Charles Bouaziz, CEO of Ontex. ”Our main shareholders, Goldman Sachs and TPG, who bought Ontex in 2010, saw that with the company on a firm growth path, this was a good time
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to return to the market. We will benefit from a greatly reduced level of debt and will have access to an additional source of capital, which is important as we want to invest in growth. Our two largest shareholders still hold 45 per cent of the company, while the IPO has led to a diversification of ownership, an improvement of our corporate ratings and enhanced our attractiveness on the market. “Over the last few years our business has expanded its geographical presence - both organically and through acquisitions - and has increased the weight of our own brands and incontinence products in our mix. We aim to deliver both top and bottom line growth,
