Ex-Balta top manager bids on carpet group

22 november 2021
today at
13:34

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The Fleming Philippe Hamers and his British carpet group Victoria are bidding on a piece of the West Flemish competitor Balta. That drives Balta’s share price higher.

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Hamers, the former chief of Balta .’s residential carpet division

, is looking for a part of the West Flemish listed carpet group Balta, De Standaard writes on Monday. Hamers is now at the head of British industry peer Victoria, which is also listed on the stock exchange.

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Balta first announced on Monday that it did not want to respond to what it called rumours. But a little after 2 p.m. it came with a press release. In it, Balta confirms that discussions are underway with Victoria “about a possible sale of certain parts of Balta’s business”, without going into details. It does add that the outcome of the discussions is uncertain and that the article is “speculative and contains factual errors”.

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Victoria sent out a similar notification earlier Monday. It states that Victoria confirms that it is in talks about ‘the potential acquisition of a profitable and growing part of Balta’.

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Synergiemogelijkheden

However, Victoria does not specify which part, stating that “speculative details in the article are not accurate.” It does add that it believes the Balta business offers ‘good synergy opportunities’ with Victoria’s existing activities.

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Balta’s share price fell again when it became clear that Victoria would not consider an offer for all of Balta.

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The British further specify that they are not considering an offer for all of Balta and that there is no guarantee that a transaction will be concluded. If so, the deal could be financed from Victoria’s existing resources and will contribute substantially to the UK group’s earnings growth.

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It is striking that the stock market watchdog FSMA did not suspend Balta’s share price pending an announcement. The carpet group’s share briefly jumped 11 percent after Victoria’s report, but then fell back when it turned out that there will be no bid for all of Balta. Balta has been on the bum on the stock market for years. Since its IPO in 2017, the stock has already lost almost 80 percent of its value (see chart).

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Earlier this year it was announced that Balta, which has been looking for ways to reduce its debt burden for some time, want to get rid of Modulyss, its European brand of carpet tiles. There was a deal on the table with the American Mohawk, but it fell through at the last minute.

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Wall-to-wall carpet

Balta, which had a turnover of EUR 562 million last year and has about 3,800 employees, comprises four branches: area rugs, residential carpet (wall-to-wall carpet and carpet tiles for private use), commercial carpet (wall-to-wall and tiles for commercial use) and non-woven products.

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Residential carpet, which may be discussed here, was the third largest division in terms of turnover last year and number two in terms of profit. Profits rose, while sales fell. The division is the market leader in Europe and has offices in Sint-Baafs-Vijve and Tielt.

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Ex-Balta top manager bids on carpet group

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Wall-to-wall carpet

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