The Van Hool Industrial Vehicles business unit will be permanently taken over by GRW. The board of four curators formally announced this on Wednesday evening.
GRW, a partner company of the German Schmitz Cargobull, is a South African manufacturer of tankers and semi-trailers. GRW wants to be fully operational in Koningshooikt by the beginning of June, employing up to 350 employees, as announced at the beginning of April.
“The agreement in principle with GRW was concluded on Wednesday, April 10, based on the binding offer,” the trustees write. “Today a definitive acquisition agreement has been ratified by both parties. Financial details of the agreement are not being disclosed.”
According to curator Jeroen Pinoy, the joint trade union front was a great help during the entire process, especially with all the administrative obligations for the 2,500 former employees. “We have now been able to formalize everything,” said Pinoy. “The production of tank trucks, semi-trailers and tank containers can be started.” Concerning the takeover of the bus and coach activities, discussions with the VDL Groep are still ongoing. These would be constructive and “will be concluded within the shortest possible time”.
Fast start-up
It is not surprising that GRW wanted to move quickly. It was very important to quickly start all operational activities, both to complete current orders and to retain the expertise of employees. After all, they are informed by the VDAB about other possibilities.
“We will officially restart production on Monday, April 29,” says CEO Gerhard van der Merwe. “The start-up will take place in three phases. In the first phase, all vehicles that are already in a final phase are completely finished by a limited number of employees. In a second phase, parts are purchased and produced themselves. In the third phase, production will be fully started and the aim is to be fully operational by early June 2024.”
GRW produces 1,200 tankers annually with a workforce of 630 employees. Schmitz Cargobull produces approximately 60,000 vehicles annually with more than 6,000 employees and generated sales of approximately 2.6 billion euros in the 2022/23 financial year.