Copyright © BusinessAMBE 2023

SFPIM, the Federal Holding and Investment Company, is continuing its anchoring strategy with a notable new investment. The public investor is buying 5 percent in materials technology company Umicore.

In the news: SFPIM announced Monday evening a 5 percent stake in the capital of Umicore, which focuses on materials technology, metals and recycling. The Belgian state thus becomes the fifth largest shareholder through SFPIM.

👉 "Umicore plays a central role in the ecological transition thanks to its recycling activities and the production of cathodes for the automotive industry," SFPIM said in a note. "With this investment, SFPIM wishes to co-manage the transformation and development phase of the company."

The broader picture: SFPIM has been working for some time to locally anchor companies that are strategically important to Belgium through the purchase of a minority stake. In some cases, that also results in a seat on the board of directors.

  • These are mainly financial companies, such as insurer Ageas, stock exchange company Euronext or securities house Euroclear.
  • In addition, the public investor also manages the federal government interests in the financial institutions that became partly or fully state-owned during the 2008 banking crisis, including Belfius or Ethias.
  • SFPIM also controls a quarter of Brussels Airport.
  • With its entry into Umicore, the public investor is making it clear that it not only wants to be a financial superholding, but also hopes to anchor our industry.

Side note: Through anchoring, the Belgian state is creating preventive buffers against unwanted foreign takeovers of strategically important companies. But critics say the strategy also works to "distort" the Belgian economy.

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