Buysse & Partners acquires a majority stake in Balak.

Buysse & Partners acquires a majority stake in Balak.

Buysse & Partners (97%), together with the management of Balak (3%), will continue the ownership of Balak Coatings and Fences. Frans van Bakel, grandson of the founding family of Van Bakel, will remain active in the company and will continue to work on engineering and R&D. Balak is one of the largest European players in the fence panel sector. It produces 50,000 tonnes of panels annually from a total European production capacity of 130,000 tonnes. With 50 employees, the group achieves a turnover of 50 million euros and a gross operating profit (EBITDA) of more than 20%.

The company started in 1946 as a painting company and then started galvanizing steel parts as a subcontractor until it took full control of the process. Since then, Balak has been in the hands of the Bakel founding family.

Buysse & Partners, the management of Balak and Frans van Bakel will join forces to continue to support Balak in maintaining its position as cost leader in the production of twin-wire fencing panels.

Frans van Bakel explains: "Buysse & Partners is an entrepreneurial, long-term investor who will enable Balak's management to further invest in the continued growth of the company."

Johan Buyle, partner at Buysse & Partners, continues: "We are fascinated and impressed by the high degree of specialization and automation that Frans van Bakel has introduced into the company. Balak has attractive growth potential, both in the existing and new customer segment in Northern and Western Europe. We strongly believe that there will be widespread demand for Balak's products in the coming years for many reasons, including safety."