D’Ieteren Group is changing drivers at a remarkably sensitive moment. Francis Deprez will step down as CEO in December after seven years at the helm and will be replaced by Belgian investment specialist Eric Machiels.
The announcement comes barely a week after D’Ieteren Automotive put 344 Belgian jobs at risk – and as the group confirms that an IPO of its crown jewel, Belron, is now officially among the options being studied.
D’Ieteren gives no specific reason for Deprez’s departure. On the contrary, chairman Nicolas D’Ieteren credits him with a leading role in transforming the former car-centered family company into a diversified investment group and delivering record results. Deprez joined the executive committee in 2016 and became CEO in 2019.
Under his watch, D’Ieteren invested heavily outside its historic Belgian car distribution business, most notably by acquiring a 40% stake in forklift-parts specialist TVH and taking control of European automotive-parts distributor PHE. Belron, parent company of Carglass, remained by far the group’s most valuable asset.
Belron increasingly calls the shots
The choice of Machiels therefore looks significant. He has been a Managing Director at Canadian pension investor OMERS Infrastructure in London since 2017, working with portfolio companies and transactions.
Before that, he ran renewable-energy company Infinis Energy through an IPO and held turnaround roles at businesses owned by private-equity group Clayton, Dubilier & Rice.
That last connection is particularly noteworthy. CD&R entered Belron’s capital in 2018 and remains one of the minority shareholders that could now exit.
On Wednesday, D’Ieteren officially confirmed that Belron’s shareholders are studying “strategic options” for the minority stakes, explicitly including a possible stock-market listing.
No decision or timetable has been set, while D’Ieteren stresses that it intends to remain a long-term shareholder.
Chairman Nicolas D’Ieteren also says Machiels’ “investment perspective” will be valuable in a new phase in which proactive ownership and “disciplined capital allocation” will become increasingly important. That wording suggests that the succession is about more than replacing a retiring executive.
Two very different D’Ieterens
The latest figures underline why. D’Ieteren Group’s adjusted profit before tax attributable to the group increased by 6.6% in the first half, to € 482.4 million, or by 8.4% at constant exchange rates.
Sales of roughly €6.1 billion were broadly stable. All businesses contributed positively to earnings growth except D’Ieteren Automotive.
Belron delivered another standout performance. D’Ieteren’s share of its adjusted pre-tax profit jumped 28.6% to €308.2 million. Organic sales grew 7.3%, while its adjusted operating margin increased from 21.4% to 23.0%.
The contrast with D’Ieteren Automotive could hardly be greater. Its adjusted pre-tax profit plunged 66.6% to €36.4 million as sales dropped 10.8%.
Its adjusted operating margin shrank to just 2.1%, hit by lower volumes, an unfavorable price mix, tighter distribution margins and weakness at its own dealerships. Management warns that the deteriorating trend is unlikely to improve during the second half.
Meanwhile, D’Ieteren’s other industrial holdings performed strongly. Automotive spare-parts distributor Parts Holding Europe (PHE) increased its contribution to adjusted pre-tax profit by 18.4% to €106.8 million.
TVH Parts, the Belgian specialist in parts for forklifts and industrial equipment, lifted its contribution by 16.9% to €44.2 million.
Even Moleskine, the Italian notebook and lifestyle brand and a long-standing weak spot in D’Ieteren’s portfolio, showed some improvement, although it still recorded an adjusted pre-tax loss of €4.7 million. The group therefore kept its 2026 outlook unchanged, expecting adjusted pre-tax profit to grow by a low- to mid-single-digit percentage.
Not the architect of the 344 job cuts
The proximity of Deprez’s departure to the restructuring announced at D’Ieteren Automotive is striking, but there is no evidence that he is leaving because of it or that he personally designed the job-cutting plan.
That restructuring is being led operationally by D’Ieteren Automotive CEO Denis Gorteman. Up to 344 positions could disappear as the importer adapts to a structurally smaller new-car market, electrification, digitalization, tougher competition and changing mobility habits.
As Group CEO, Deprez inevitably bears strategic responsibility for the portfolio, but the numbers suggest a different explanation for his succession.
He leaves behind a D’Ieteren that is much less dependent on selling Volkswagens, Audis and Porsches in Belgium than the company he inherited.
