Antwerp — Gimv acqui­res a majo­rity stake in Cool­world Rentals. The fast-growing company from the Nether­lands is active in the field of full-service rental of cooling and heating equip­ment to B2B custo­mers. The foun­ding Buij­zen family, foun­der Jack Buijns­ters and the manage­ment remain invol­ved. Upon comple­tion of the tran­sac­tion, Ruud van Mierlo, curr­ently Direc­tor Sales and Marke­ting, will be appoin­ted CEO. The current acting CEO Jack Buijns­ters moves to the advi­sory board and will conti­nue to play an active role in busi­ness deve­lo­p­ment. The tran­sac­tion is expec­ted to enable Cool­world Rentals to execute its ambi­tious growth plans. Gimv is thus expan­ding its Sustainable Cities plat­form, which mana­ges compa­nies that bene­fit from the need for sustainable products.

Cool­world Rentals, based in Waal­wijk, the Nether­lands (www.coolworld-rentals.com), is an inter­na­tio­nal specia­list in full-service rental of cooling and heating equip­ment. Since its foun­da­tion in 1993, the company has deve­lo­ped into a specia­li­zed supplier that rents out cold storage and free­zing cells as well as indus­trial solu­ti­ons for process cooling, air condi­tio­ning and heating. With a wide range of products and services, Cool­world can respond flexi­bly to its custo­mers’ ever-chan­ging needs for cooling and heating solu­ti­ons. Examp­les include capa­city bott­len­ecks, rebuilds, test arran­ge­ments, seaso­nal peaks or opera­tio­nal disrup­ti­ons. An inter­na­tio­nal network of own bran­ches, logi­stics depots and service points in the Nether­lands, Belgium, Germany, France, Austria and Switz­er­land guaran­tees a year-round service around the clock.

Cool­world opera­tes in many market segments and counts compa­nies from the food, retail, phar­maceu­ti­cal, chemi­cal, logi­stics and data center sectors among its custo­mers. In these custo­mers’ proces­ses, modern air condi­tio­ning tech­no­lo­gies are play­ing an incre­asingly important role due to the need for fres­her food, stric­ter requi­re­ments or envi­ron­men­tal legis­la­tion. Also, peak times often have to be absor­bed with tempo­rary solu­ti­ons. Cool­world can guaran­tee the neces­sary flexi­bi­lity, quality and service for this. In addi­tion, the company offers its custo­mers appro­priate services such as tech­ni­cal design, trans­port, main­ten­ance and repair, and remote moni­to­ring as part of an all-round support service, so that they can concen­trate on their core busi­ness. The combi­na­tion of tech­ni­cal exper­tise, full-service concept, a broad custo­mer port­fo­lio and high custo­mer loyalty are the basis for Coolworld’s success.

With the invest­ment from Gimv, Cool­world aims to achieve its growth targets. This includes expan­ding acti­vi­ties in the home markets, broa­de­ning the port­fo­lio of energy-effi­ci­ent and sustainable products, and incre­asing opera­ting effi­ci­ency. A buy-and-build stra­tegy is also plan­ned for both exis­ting and new markets.

Rombout Poos and Roland Veld­hui­j­zen Van Zanten of the Gimv deal team: “Cool­world is a unique company in an attrac­tive segment that bene­fits from important trends that are in line with the stra­tegy of our Sustainable Cities invest­ment plat­form. We look forward to working with Ruud van Mierlo and his team to help shape Coolworld’s contin­ued expan­sion and signi­fi­cant growth. We share the view that sustainable leasing solu­ti­ons are beco­ming incre­asingly important, have a simi­lar geogra­phic foot­print and are looking to grow inter­na­tio­nally. We will bring our exper­tise in air condi­tio­ning and leasing to support the group’s growth.”

The tran­sac­tion is subject to custo­mary condi­ti­ons, inclu­ding appr­oval by the compe­ti­tion autho­ri­ties. Further finan­cial details will not be disclosed.

About Gimv
Gimv is a Euro­pean invest­ment company with almost 40 years of expe­ri­ence in private equity. The company is listed on Euron­ext Brussels and curr­ently mana­ges appro­xi­m­ately €1.6 billion in around 50 port­fo­lio compa­nies, which toge­ther gene­rate sales of €2.5 billion with over 14,000 employees.

As a reco­gni­zed leader for selec­ted invest­ment plat­forms, Gimv iden­ti­fies entre­pre­neu­rial and inno­va­tive compa­nies with high growth poten­tial and supports them in their trans­for­ma­tion into market leaders. Gimv’s four invest­ment plat­forms are: Connec­ted Consu­mer, Health & Care, Smart Indus­tries and Sustainable Cities. Each of these plat­forms works with a compe­tent and dedi­ca­ted team in Gimv’s home markets (Bene­lux, France and Germany) and can count on an exten­ded inter­na­tio­nal network of experts.