European Industrial Family

Securing Generational Wealth

Challenge

A third-generation industrial family approached us in 2015 with a significant challenge: their wealth was concentrated in a 1952-established manufacturing business with operations across Belgium, Germany and France. The Peeters family faced increasing pressure from international competitors and wanted to diversify their risk while ensuring efficient wealth transfer to the fourth generation. Complex cross-border tax implications and varying family member interests needed careful consideration.

Our Approach

While working with this client, we conducted detailed business valuation and risk assessment and mapped existing corporate and family structures. Our team also evaluated tax implications across all relevant jurisdictions and assessed family members’ interests and capabilities.

Our team helped create a holding company structure in Belgium with subsidiary entities and advised the client to establish a family investment company for diversification. We developed a partial liquidity strategy through minority stake sale and implemented tax-efficient cross-border wealth transfer mechanisms.

Our consultants designed a family constitution with clear decision-making protocols, established a family council with representative committees, created a formal succession planning framework and developed conflict resolution mechanisms

The Kuma Wealth team facilitated the creation of a tailored education programme for seven fourth-generation members and mentorship partnerships with industry experts. We established a rotation programme within the family business and developed individual career planning for family members.

Through our guidance, the client diversified 40% of the family wealth into strategic investments, set up a balanced portfolio across multiple asset classes, established risk management frameworks and implemented a regular performance monitoring system.

Outcome

Over seven years, we helped the family by:

(01)

Business Evolution

Our team assisted in a successful minority stake sale (25%) to a strategic partner, valuing the business at €380M. We also helped them reinvest proceeds to modernise manufacturing facilities, increase market share by 15% through strategic acquisitions and maintain family control.

(02)

Wealth Structuring

Our consultants created a tax-efficient structure saving approximately €27M in inheritance taxes, diversified €152M into strategic investments outside core business and achieved 8.2% average annual return on a diversified portfolio. Our assistance helped establish sustainable income streams for twelve family members.

(03)

Family Cohesion

With our assistance, the family successfully integrated 6 out of 7 fourth-generation members into the family enterprise and had zero family disputes due to our precise governance framework we created. One hundred percent of family members participated in quarterly council meetings, where together with their input we created three successful family-led philanthropic initiatives.

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