Sofina

Harold Boel is chief executive, the family principal at the head of a company his line has controlled since 1964. David Verey has served as chairman since 2014. The senior investment and management group includes Xavier Coirbay, Wauthier De Bassompierre and Francois Gillet, names that recur across Sofina's board representation in portfolio companies.

The wider organisation runs to more than 80 professionals across four offices, with Brussels as headquarters and additional presences including Luxembourg and Singapore, an unusually small headcount for a balance sheet of this size and a direct consequence of the minority-stake, low-turnover model. Historically the defining figure is Dannie Heineman, the engineer who ran Sofina from 1905 to 1955 and shaped its original utilities and infrastructure footprint before the shift toward growth equity.

Sofina does not raise closed-end funds. It is a permanent-capital vehicle listed on Euronext Brussels under the ticker SOF and a constituent of the Bel 20, so its balance sheet rather than an LP commitment cycle sets the pace of investment. The company was incorporated in 1898 and ran as an industrial and utilities holding for decades under Dannie Heineman, who led it from 1905 to 1955; investment activity in the modern sense dates to 1956. The Boel family took control in 1964 alongside Societe Generale de Belgique and still holds the majority stake, with the remainder free-floating.

Net asset value stood at 11.5 billion euros as of June 30, 2026. Capital is deployed through two channels: Sofina Direct, which takes long-term minority positions in growth companies, and Sofina Private Funds, which commits to third-party venture and growth managers and gives the group indirect exposure well beyond its direct book. Holdings span ByteDance, Vinted, Cognita, Nuxe, Danone and Richemont, with Flipkart exited in 2018.