Verlinvest, the investment holding company of the Belgian de Spoelberch family, made a loss of 107 million euros in 2023 with a stake in oat juice producer Oatly, reports Durch newspaper De Tijd. When the company went public in New York three years ago, it was worth 11.7 billion dollars after the first day of trading, 20% more than when Oatly shares started trading. The share price has fallen by around 95% since the IPO and is now trading at around $1.
Despite the loss in market capitalisation, the de Spoelberch family has benefited somewhat from its investment in Oatly, according to the report. When Oatly went public, Nativus, a joint venture between Verlinvest and China Resources, sold 20 million Oatly shares at an initial public offering price of $17 each. This resulted in proceeds of 340 million dollars, half of which went to Verlinvest.
