Ackermans & van Haaren

Ackermans & van Haaren (AvH) is an independent, diversified investment group founded in 1876 and headquartered in Antwerp, Belgium, with a listing on Euronext Brussels. The firm's stated approach is to create shareholder value through long-term investments in a select number of portfolio companies with strong growth potential - a concentrated, buy-and-hold model rather than a fund structure with defined exit horizons.

Within the group, the growth-capital team invests directly in life-science and other growth companies, alongside operating and holdings positions that span marine engineering and contracting, private banking, real estate, energy and resources. Current portfolio companies include DEME and CFE (marine engineering and contracting), Delen Private Bank and Bank Van Breda (private banking), Nextensa (real estate) and SIPEF (energy and resources), reflecting sector breadth held within a single balance sheet.

AvH describes its ownership as active, supporting portfolio companies' strategic initiatives and sustainable development, and it frames its origins in a partnership between entrepreneurial contractors - a heritage it links to partnerships with entrepreneurial teams today. The stated investment focus is sustainable growth directed at real societal challenges.