Belgian holding company Groupe Bruxelles Lambert invests in European industry leaders with two key strategies in place. First, its companies must be engaged in markets expected to have long-term tailwinds. Second, they must have a stated commitment to grow sustainably based on clearly defined ESG principles. Founded in 1902 by the Lambert family, GBL merged with Banque de Bruxelles in 1975.

In recent years, the firm has worked to grow beyond its identity as a European investor into a global investor with a focus on the digitization of the world economy. As an active, long-term investor GBL encourages its companies to embrace long-term trends, recently for instance, Adidas’ digital transformation and Umicore’s expansion in the electric vehicle market. Other companies owned by GBL include Pernod Ricard, Ontex and Total, to name a few. In 2020, GBL carried out a diagnosis of each of its companies’ risk related to the climate transition, challenging each to build new advance strategies for sustainable growth. In December, GBL announced it would acquire German-based Canyon bicycles.

As of 12/31/20, Pernod Ricard was held and Groupe Bruxelles Lambert, Adidas, Umicore, Ontex and Total were not held in the Knowledge Leaders Strategy.

Canyon Podbike concept vehicle, credit: Canyon Bicycles