AvH adds to Van Moer: the improving margins behind an €11 million investment

A holding company can help a business grow without taking control. The important question is whether growth improves what is left after operating costs. That is the question behind Ackermans & van Haaren's latest investment in Van Moer Logistics.

On 19 October, AvH announced an agreement to raise its stake to 39.77%, with an additional investment of approximately €11 million. CFO Tom Bamelis presented the move as a further step in its partnership with founders Jo Van Moer and Anne Verstraeten and their management team.

Why put more money into an existing investment? The figures show a business expanding both sales and margins. They do not yet show how much of that improvement becomes cash for its shareholder.

More earnings from each euro of sales

Van Moer manages the movement of goods through transport, port handling, storage and related services. Connecting these activities lets a customer entrust a logistics chain to one operator rather than coordinate several suppliers.

Between 2020 and 2025, sales increased from €186 million to €344 million. EBITDA reached €38.5 million, up from €13.4 million. EBITDA is earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation.

Put both series on the same starting line. With 2020 set at 100, sales reached 185 in 2025 and EBITDA 287. Earnings on this measure grew considerably faster than revenue.

The EBITDA margin increased from 7.2% to 11.2%, a gain of roughly four percentage points. Every €100 of sales generated about €7.20 before those charges in 2020, compared with €11.20 in 2025.

Better use of capacity or a broader service offering could explain part of the improvement. That is an economic interpretation, rather than a quantified explanation from AvH. The release does not separate pricing, volumes, acquisitions and productivity.

A network needs funding before it delivers all its cash

The interim report describes a new logistics centre at Beringen, on the Albert Canal. Initial operations were scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2026, followed by the terminal in mid-2027. These milestones make the expansion more tangible than revenue growth alone.

A warehouse can start operating before every planned connection is available. Improving margins can also coincide with funding needs: buildings, equipment and working capital all tie up resources.

The release calls EBITDA operating cash flow. We use the name of the measure here: EBITDA. Cash available comes after investment, interest, tax and changes in working capital. What reaches AvH then depends on distributions.

A targeted addition at holding-company scale

The announced €11 million is about 0.19% of AvH's €5,898.5 million of shareholders' equity at 30 June 2026, by our calculation. That puts the additional investment in perspective. It does not measure Van Moer's total portfolio weight or the effect on today's net asset value.

AvH was already a shareholder. Its investment profile shows a 32.44% beneficial interest, compared with the rounded 32.4% in the interim report. The announced agreement therefore adds about 7.33 percentage points. AvH would remain below a majority of the capital, although that percentage alone cannot establish every governance right.

The detailed share price, Van Moer's debt and the split between money reaching the business and any selling shareholders are not disclosed. Dividing €11 million by the increase in ownership would produce an apparently simple valuation based on undocumented assumptions.

Our analysis of AvH's earnings engines explained the roles of private banking and DEME. Van Moer illustrates another part of the holding company's work: backing a developing business, then committing further capital as it progresses.

The next evidence will be operational: Beringen's opening against the published timetable, the durability of margins and cash conversion after investment. Those are the tests that will make this addition meaningful for AvH shareholders.

How we counted

Sales: 344 ÷ 186 − 1, or +84.95%. EBITDA: 38.5 ÷ 13.4 − 1, or +187.31%. Margins: 13.4 ÷ 186 and 38.5 ÷ 344. Investment scale: 11 ÷ 5,898.5, or 0.1865%. Calculations use rounded published figures without scope adjustments. The announced agreement is not presented as a payment already made. Documents consulted on 19 October 2026.