The week in business: 24 March
Hotel Astoria to re-open, Pelican Rouge sold to the Swiss and an overview of the rest of the week's company news
Hotels – Astoria
Beverages – Pelican Rouge
The largest coffee distributer and coffee machine manufacturer in Europe, serving mostly workplaces and the catering industry, is being taken over by Switzerland’s Selecta vending services group. Pelican Rouge was founded in Antwerp in 1863.
Air – ADB Safegate
The world-leading airport management and logistics developer, based in Zaventem and supplying over 2,000 airports worldwide, is being acquired by France’s PAI private equity group.
Retail – Alain Afflelou
The French chain of optical and hearing aids has plans to open up to 60 outlets in Flanders over the next three years. The company already operates 1,500 stores in 17 countries but has mostly focused on Wallonia and Brussels locally.
Dentistry – Solvay
The Brussels-based chemicals and materials group is developing state-of-the-art removable denture frames where metal is replaced with polymer-based composites.
Video – GIMV
The Flanders government venture capital fund has made a solid profit from the sale of its stake in France’s Teads video advertising firm to the Altice cable group. GIMV had acquired 10% of Teads for €14 million in 2011.
Aerospace – Esterline
The Kortrijk-based screens and visual systems developer has signed a contract to supply the UK’s BAE Systems with equipment for simulators at the Royal Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon training facility.
