Gimv sells Walkro to trade

Walkro's management has divested the business and Monaghan Mushrooms now owns it wholly, though the Walkro management has acquired shares in Monaghan.

The current statutory management of Walkro, consisting of CEO Eric Houben and CFO Peter Fijneman, will be responsible for all European substrate activities within the Monaghan group. Houben will also become a board member of Monaghan.

Headquartered in County Monaghan, the company is a substrate and mushroom company. It produces substrate for the cultivation of mushrooms, and grows, harvests and packs mushrooms before delivering them directly to customers. The company is owned by the Wilson family.

Monaghan employs around 3,500 employees across Canada, the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.

Previous funding
Netherlands-based PE house Bencis acquired Walkro in March 2004 in an MBO, backed with a debt structure from ING Bank. The company posted a turnover of €50m in 2003.

Belgian investor Gimv bought the business from Bencis in 2011, investing alongside Monaghan. Rabobank joined ING Bank in providing a debt structure for this transaction.

Walkro generated a €65m turnover in 2010, Unquote previously reported.

Company
Walkro, founded in 1991 and headquartered in Maasmechelen, is a producer of substrate for the mushroom industry. It is responsible for 8,500 tons of substrate per week at its production facilities in Maasmechelen (Belgium), Blitterswijck (the Netherlands) and Wallhausen (Germany).

Walkro also sources its own raw materials (mainly horse and poultry manure) and manages the transport of mushroom growers to its client base. The business employs 235 people and posts a turnover of €75m.

People
Walkro – Eric Houben (CEO); Peter Fijneman (CFO).

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• Topics
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• Trade sale