KBC Groupe : Securities invests in Corporate Finance and Research & Sales teams

Press release

Brussels, 29 June 2018

KBC Securities invests in Corporate Finance and Research & Sales teams

Frederik Vandepitte strengthens the management team of KBC Securities

In recent months, KBC Securities - KBC Group's brokerage firm - has recruited several new employees for Corporate Finance, mainly for its M&A activities but also for Research & Sales. In this way, it is strengthening its ability - in terms of both scope and depth - to serve its clients even better. Following on from the recruitment drive that started last year, KBC Securities has attracted 10 new, highly qualified employees for specialised positions.

Bartel Puelinckx, CEO of KBC Securities, explains: 'This is another important step in achieving our strategic ambition of becoming the reference in the Benelux in debt and equity financing for companies and institutional investors. Today, we already lead the market in capital transactions - as evidenced by the Euronext award for 'Equity House of the Year' - but we are also fully committed to all the other segments in which we operate, including M&A. With regard to the latter, we are convinced that further strengthening our team - together with the creativity we demonstrate in the search for innovative solutions, such as Match'it, the popular online platform for acquisitions, and the exclusive partnership we entered into last year with the international M&A platform Oaklins - clearly distinguishes us from other market players.'

Frederik Vandepitte joins the Executive Committee of KBC Securities and takes charge of equity, debt and M&A activities

As from 2 July 2018, Frederik Vandepitte, in his capacity as a member of the Executive Committee and Managing Director of KBC Securities, will be responsible for Corporate Finance, Acquisition Finance, Project Finance, Trade Finance, Loan & Debt Markets and Family Capital Solutions.

Frederik started his professional career at The Boston Consulting Group. He holds an MSc in Business Engineering (ICT Policy) from KU Leuven and an MBA from Columbia Business School. Until 2015, he was in charge of Morgan Stanley's investment banking activities in Belgium. For 13 years, he advised entrepreneurs, shareholders and investors in the various aspects of growth and value creation. After spending 10 years abroad working in New York, London and Sydney, he returned to Belgium in 2010. For the past two years he has been a member of the Management Committee of Incofin Investment Management, where he was responsible for fund development, investor relations and talent management.

The appointment of Luc Van den Broeck, CFO, as member of the Executive Committee, which continues to be chaired by Bartel Puelinckx, the CEO of KBC Securities, also fits in with the move to strengthen the management of KBC Securities.

The Corporate Finance team, led by Stefan Goethals, will be expanded to include 7 advisers, bringing the team to 26 specialists

- Reginald Neirynck joined the Corporate Finance team in May as Executive Director. Reginald has a legal background and extensive international experience with cross-border mergers and acquisitions, ECM origination and consultancy, including in relation to issues on the bond markets.

- Michiel Vanhauwere has been appointed as Associate Director in Corporate Finance and Annelies Heemeryck Senior Associate in Corporate Finance. In 2016, they launched the KBC Match'it platform - a closed digital matchmaking platform for the SME & Mid-Market segment - that became the reference platform for mid-market mergers and acquisitions.

- Basile Cuignez and Nicolas Ockier will start as Associates in Corporate Finance.

In addition, a Senior Associate in Corporate Finance has been recruited with many years' experience in that segment. In September, three more advisers will start working for Corporate Finance.

Within Match'it, Quentin Santy and Gwen De Rudder, both with an extensive track record at KBC Bank and KBC Securities, will fill the positions vacated by Michiel Vanhauwere and Annelies Heemeryck. Francis Mercklé will strengthen the Match'it team as Application Manager.

The Research & Sales team, led by Wouter Vanderhaeghen, has been strengthened with the addition of two senior sales profiles

These newly recruited staff members bring the Research & Sales team to 10 salespersons, four sales traders and 12 analysts.

- Marieke Vermeersch started working as a sales director and specialist in Sales for Life Sciences in June. She has built up more than 18 years of relevant experience in a number of different companies, including Devgen, Degroof Petercam and Ablynx. Sandra Cauwenberghs and Lenny Van Steenhuyze, the KBC Security analysts responsible for monitoring the biotech sector, will work closely with her in this area.

- Tim Leemans will join KBC Securities at the beginning of July as an executive sales director. He has more than 19 years of experience in this domain, including at Econopolis.

Interviews are also at an advanced stage with several candidates, with a view to further expanding the team of analysts. This expansion fits in with KBC Securities' ambition to further consolidate its research position in the Benelux.

KBC Group NV

Havenlaan 2 - 1080 Brussels Viviane Huybrecht

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