Until recently, Nicolas and Richard Six, 3rd generation shareholders of the Locasix family group, have been one of the leaders in Belgium in the construction and rental of residential containers for almost five decades,operating from three sites in West Hainaut and the province of Liège.
A while back, Richard Six, a passive shareholder, announced his intention to sell his shares in the family group. But his brother Nicolas did not have the necessary liquidity to acquire them, and his ambitions for the Group’s development required significant cash investments. A thorough analysis of the issue was therefore needed, taking into account Nicolas’ wishes: to maintain control of the family group, to innovate through employee participation and to work with a benevolent strategic and financial partner who shares the same corporate values and wants to support the group’s growth ambitions.
The solution that was found and implemented with the help of BDO’s Tax & Legal and Financial Advisory teams involved setting up a structure known as Owner Buy-Out (OBO). A structure that enables one or more shareholders of a company to maintain control of the company with the help of third-party investors by setting up a takeover holding company.
In this case, Nicolas was able to benefit from the help of the SRIW (now Wallonie Entreprendre or WE) and open up the family group’s capital to three members of his management team.
- Nicolas, why did you choose Wallonie Entreprendre as your partner?
Nicolas: “I was looking for the support of a strong, caring partner who shared my modern, inclusive vision of business management and was eager to support my group’s ambitious development projects, along with my banking partners.”
- How did you first meet Wallonie Entreprendre?
Nicolas: “Through BDO, I got to know Sabine Colson, WE’s sales and acquisition coordinator. During our first meeting, I quickly noticed that she had a lot of respect for the path we had already taken and for what we had achieved in the past. She was eager to support our future development, had a feel for the industrial partnership with Les Ateliers de Terte and was also interested in employee share ownership. In short, the ideal partner for this collaboration!”
- How did your staff react to the project they were presented with? What questions did they have?
Nicolas: “I think the managers involved were very receptive to the approach and were not at all surprised, given what they know about me and my management style. They had full confidence in me when I prepared and implemented the OBO. The details of the transaction were presented to them and explained by the BDO team during sessions within the company where they had the opportunity to ask any questions they might have. Their questions mainly related to the way in which their capital investment in the acquisition holding company was financed.”
- What was the partnership with BDO like?
Nicolas: “I would like to highlight their highly professional assistance in identifying structuring options, financial modelling and valuation of the group, preparing the legal documentation required for the transaction, negotiations with WE, etc. It is a real advantage to be able to benefit from an integrated one-stop-shop service offer and the collaboration of a dedicated team available throughout the project.”
Who is Nicolas Six?
Active within the family group since 1997, Nicolas Six has progressively taken over the operational management of Locasix Group, which his parents gradually transferred to him and his brother. As of 2014, he initiated and implemented a number of projects within the family group, including the construction of and relocation to a new operational head office. This location is better suited to the company’s growth ambitions, the development of the container range and the overhaul of the operational teams and organisation within the production workshops.
In 2019, the year he was appointed chief executive of LOCASIX, Nicolas made the decision to sell the mobile toilet rental business and concentrate solely on the sale and rental of containers, generators and light poles. In the same year, a subsidiary for the production of containers was established in cooperation with Les Ateliers de Tertre, a custom work company based in Hainaut. Thanks to these strategic decisions, sales and EBITDA margins have increased by almost 25% and 50% respectively over the past 4 years.