ABO-Group - Press release
Ghent, December 19th, 2017 - 8 am - Press release / Regulated information / Inside information
The suspicion of lack of independence bearing upon the certified soil remediation company ABO, as reported in the press release of March 31st 2015, and in the annual report for the 2014 financial year of ABO-Group (p.18), is hereby terminated. ABO-Group Environment NV was informed of the concluded agreement on December 18th, 2017, held between Participatiemaatschappij Vlaanderen NV (PMV) and Ideplus NV (ID +), a company controlled by Mr. Frank De Palmenaer, CEO of ABO-Group Environment NV. PMV sold 383.890 of ABO-Group Environment's NV shares to ID + at a price of EUR 2.63 per share on December 18th after the stock exchange closed. Following the transaction, PMV will no longer hold any shares in ABO-Group Environment NV.
Upon completion of this transaction, ABO will no longer, directly or indirectly, be financed by the Flemish government or one of its subsidiaries. According to the Flemish legislation, a soil expert must be independent of his clients (Vlarel art. 53). A suspicion resided whether or not ABO was in fact independent from the Flemish government due the historical shareholding of PMV. Although the participation was below the 5% statutory notification threshold, the company had to request a derogation for each project executed from the competent minister, who later determined that ABO did carry out the assignments independently. The procedure, which required an important effort on behalf of the company and entailed inspection costs, is thus cancelled, enabling ABO to again carry out its soil investigations more efficiently in Flanders.
About ABO-Group
ABO-Group is a consulting and engineering firm specialising in the construction, environment and energy sectors. ABO-Group guarantees its clients in Belgium, the Netherlands, France and internationally a sustainable approach to consulting.
A detailed description of the Group's activities can be found on ABO-Group's website (www.abo-group.eu).
For more information, please contact:
ABO-Group Environment NV
investors@abo-group.eu
T +32 9 242 88 88
Maaltecenter Blok G, Derbystraat 255,
B-9051 Gent (SDW), Belgium
This press release is available on the following website www.abo-group.eu.
