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The Sofina holding company managed to boost the value of its portfolio by 17 percent to 10.41 billion euros in the first half of the year. The interests in Deceuninck and Danone were sold.
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The world is on wheels for the holding of the Boël family. Thanks to the bullish trend on the stock markets, the favorable environment for private equity (unlisted companies) and the boom of the technology sector, the net asset value per share rose to 308.72 euros on June 30. That is 42 percent more than at the same time last year, and 16.7 percent higher than at the end of December. It is also more than the 297 euros that Sofina
in his biannual newsletter in July, as the private equity funds in the portfolio had not yet reported their latest valuations.
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The share price is 23 percent above the value of June. Since then, the stock market has continued to climb. The US S&P 500 gained 6 percent over the summer. Sofina traded at a discount for decades, but thanks to its focus on fast-growing unlisted companies, Sofina has become one of the largest European players in private equity, for which investors are only too happy to pay a premium. Sofina focuses on four pillars: consumer retail, digital transformation, education and health, with a focus on Asia and the US.
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Sofina had already announced the purchases and sales of the first semester in its newsletter. The holding company invested in, among other things, the e-commerce group The Hut and the operator of private schools Cognita. Interests in the maker of fishing equipment Rapala, the crane rental company Uperio and the department store chain Colruyt were sold.
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Exit Deceuninck
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A new feature is that Sofina sold all remaining shares of PVC profile maker Deceuninck in the summer. Last year, Sofina was still the most important shareholder with almost 10 percent, after CEO Francis Van Eeckhout. This year, Deceuninck’s share price doubled thanks to a strong recovery in sales and profitability. Sofina also left the French dairy giant Danone completely.
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The Sofina Growth branch, which invests directly in growth companies, took a stake in, among other things, Oviva, a technology platform intended to combat the rise of diabetes and obesity. In China, fresh money went to diagnostics company ReeToo and pet supply retailer Petkit.
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However, Beijing’s new wave of regulations for education and tech companies, among others, also affects Sofina. Although the details are not yet known, the increased volatility resulting from the announcement of the rules has a temporary negative effect of 2 to 3 percent on the net asset value of our group.
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