Mediafin, the publisher of the business newspapers De Tijd and L’Echo, has acquired the independent market research agency Profacts. The integration of Profacts aligns with Mediafin’s ambition to better serve both its readership and advertisers. “Profacts possesses a wealth of valuable analyses, data, and insights. Mediafin, in turn, has access to a highly interesting community of readers and advertisers. By combining these strengths, we can both continue to grow,” says Peter Quaghebeur, CEO of Mediafin.
Based in Ghent, Profacts was founded in 2006 and conducts market research using academic scientific expertise for a wide range of companies, organizations, and governments. The agency is active on both the Belgian and international markets. Over the past decade, Profacts has developed into a leading market research agency.
Mediafin has long been diversifying its activities, as evidenced by its 2022 acquisitions of Openthebox (a data platform for business and entrepreneurial information) and Luxury Leads (digital and print media focused on luxury real estate), as well as its investments in audio (e.g., the podcasts De 7 and Le Brief) and video. With the acquisition of Profacts, Mediafin can further enhance its services for subscribers and advertisers.
“We see numerous international examples – such as The Economist, Handelsblatt, or The Financial Times – of powerful synergies between media groups and research agencies. We firmly believe this can also work here in Belgium. By joining forces, we can scale up our services for readers, advertisers, and clients,” explains Peter Quaghebeur, CEO of Mediafin.
Profacts is the largest local market research agency in Belgium that is not part of an international group. It employs 50 people and generates an annual turnover of nearly 12 million euros. The company’s growth was financially supported by Vectis Private Equity (investment fund located in Aalter), which has been on board since 2020. Carine Vaeremans, who has been leading Profacts since 2017, sees many opportunities resulting from this acquisition.
“This acquisition allows us to combine our know-how, research methods, data analysis and recommendations for clients and sectors with Mediafin’s valuable insights about the reader and advertiser market. This seems like a fantastic opportunity to move forward. In this way, we will be able to provide our clients with even more valuable analyses about the sectors and markets in which they operate,” says Carine Vaeremans, CEO of Profacts.
About Vectis Private Equity
Vectis Private Equity, with EUR 125 million under management, is an independent private equity fund that focuses on investments in ambitious Belgian SMEs. Since its inception nearly 20 years ago, Vectis has invested in more than 30 Belgian companies and completed dozens of add-on acquisitions. This makes Vectis one of the most active private equity investors in this segment of the Belgian market.