Profacts continues its journey of strong growth in the world of market research and consulting. The company has just concluded a new financial and strategic partnership with the investment company Vectis Private Equity. This partnership will allow the company to focus on further expansion at home and abroad, as well as on offering innovative solutions for our customers. As CEO, Carine Vaeremans will continue to be responsible for Profacts’ day-to-day management.
Profacts (www.profacts.be) has been a leading market research and consultancy firm for years. Companies and governments (national and international) can rely on Profacts for research solutions, answers to strategic questions and insights into business success factors. In addition to quantitative and qualitative market research, data mining, predictive modelling and implicit research, the team of over 40 employees continuously innovates with new digital platforms to support customer challenges.
‘Can Do’ spirit en entrepreneurship
From now on not only the founder Stijn De Rammelaere and the CEO Carine Vaeremans, but also the members of the management team – Martijn Dehaene, Robby Herfs and Karen De Visch – have a holding in the company’s capital. Stijn De Rammelaere will withdraw from daily operations but will continue to support Profacts’ strategy in his new role as Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Stijn De Rammelaere: “Profacts has a strong ‘can do’ entrepreneurial spirit and has always focused on solutions tailored to customers and customer satisfaction. I am particularly proud that we have a number of young entrepreneurs in our midst who are helping to invest in the future of Profacts and are supporting the ambition to achieve strong growth together. I am looking forward to this new chapter for our company, together with our new partner Vectis who will reinforce us in our next phase of growth”.
The collaboration with Profacts fits perfectly with Vectis’ strategy of investing in growing, strong companies. Lieven Coen, partner Vectis Private Equity: “We were particularly attracted by the quality of the management and its outspoken ambition to further invest in innovative and digital solutions for the benefit of its customers. The focus on thought leadership, the dedication and passion for market research that we have experienced at Profacts, provide an excellent basis for further growth. Furthermore, we are looking forward to start talks with parties who want to be part of this ambitious partnership”.
Strong growth and more clout
Profacts has been part of the Duval Union ecosystem since 2015. Under the leadership of CEO Carine Vaeremans and thanks to an excellent partnership with Duval Union, the company has experienced strong growth on the Belgian market in recent years. Duval Union will now disinvest, but emphasizes that it continues its long-term relationship with Profacts as a strategic partner for market research.
Klaus Lommatzsch: “With Carine as CEO and the management participating in the capital, Profacts is better prepared than ever to continue to perform strongly in the future. We will keep on recommending Profacts to our customers as a partner of excellence for all research questions. We would like to thank Stijn and Carine and the entire Profacts team for our great journey together and we are convinced that Vectis is the right partner for this next phase of growth”.
This partnership was facilitated by Deloitte Corporate Finance and Deloitte Legal as advisors for Profacts and by Finvision and Argo Law as advisors for Vectis Private Equity.
About Vectis Private Equity
Vectis Private Equity is an independent private equity fund that focuses on investments in Belgian SMEs and manages about ca. 100 million EURO in assets. The team has years of experience in accompanying SMEs in their growth and is very familiar with the challenges these companies face. Since its creation, more than 15 years ago, Vectis has invested in more than 30 Belgian companies and has also realised about 20 additional add-on acquisitions. This makes Vectis one of the most active private equity investors in this segment of the Belgian market.