PIA Group embarks on conquest of French- speaking accountancy market.

THG Brussels is first takeover in the French-speaking part of Belgium.
GHENT, 12 March 2024- PIA Group takes another key step in its growth trajectory. Today Belgium’s third largest accountancy group gets to announce its first takeover in the French- speaking part of Belgium. The firm in question is THG Brussels which, contrary to what its name suggests, is located in Lasne, in the province of Walloon Brabant, which is also the agency’s main geographical area of activity. For Steven Brouckaert, Executive Chairman of PIA Group, this is just the beginning. “Our combination of benefits of scale with the preservation of local identity is just as unique on the French-speaking market. Therefore it is with great ambition that we enter this new market.”

The accountancy and advisory sector is in full transformation. Independent accountancy firms are faced with ever-growing challenges. Just think of staff shortages, constantly changing regulations and the accelerating rate of digitalisation. PIA Group supports its group partners in this (r)evolution with an extensive range of shared services: IT and Digitalisation, HR, Operations, Finance, Sales & Marketing and Advisory. At the same time the group respects the entrepreneurship of the owners and the identity of the branches. For any agency, joining PIA Group provides a solid basis for continued local growth within a(n) (inter)national context. This unique proposition has convinced a considerable number of accountancy firms to join the group, first in Flanders and Brussels and subsequently also in the Netherlands.

Over the past five years, the number of brands of PIA Group in Flanders and Brussels has doubled to 36. Together they employ close to 1,000 employees. In the Netherlands, after less than eighteen months of activity on the local market, the group consists of 5 brands, with a total of 16 branches and some 500 employees. And now THG Brussels is the first branch in Walloon Brabant to join the group. The agency was founded in 1987 and through takeovers developed into a leading accountancy and advisory agency in Walloon Brabant with over 800 customers and 31 staff. THG Brussels is part of a group of 11 THG branches across French- and German-speaking Belgium. Initially THG Brussels will join PIA Group while retaining its close ties with its THG sister branches.

CEO Gilles Gondry is very clear as to why THG Brussels opted for PIA Group: “We talked to several interested parties but only PIA Group provided the necessary support to meet the challenges of the coming years while also guaranteeing that our identity would be preserved. We will not be the same in name only. There is no need for drastic changes in our approach either, which is very reassuring for both our staff and our customers. At the same time, the support of PIA Group will further improve our service. Especially in the areas of IT and digitalisation we want to get started very quickly with the benefits our collaboration has to offer.”

The customer portfolio of THG Brussels consists mainly of SMEs, a number of large companies and liberal professions. In Lasne they not only find accounting services and tax knowledge but also quite a bit of business advice such as consultancy, payroll services, M&A guidance, asset and succession planning, subsidy advice, etc. “Our customers are used to a high-level 360° service”, says Joseph Faymonville, founder of the THG Group. “Thanks to PIA Group’s comprehensive advisory range we can now offer our full-service business support with our new partner as well.”

“In terms of service THG Brussels fits in seamlessly with what the PIA Group branches in Flanders, Brussels and the Netherlands are already offering their customers”, says Steven Brouckaert. “We are particularly pleased that we can start with such a high-level agency in the French-speaking part of Belgium. We were already active there with Fidiaz and DBM Tax & Accounting, who service a large number of French-speaking people from Brussels, but this step makes our ambitions in this section of the market abundantly clear. Incidentally, discussions with a series of other agencies are currently ongoing and we hope to bring them to a successful conclusion in the near future. In French-speaking Belgium we also see tremendous quality in strong agencies and entrepreneurs with whom we can continue to build the future.” Nathalie Calle, CEO of PIA Group, adds: “The team at PIA Group is ready to give THG Brussels and other French-speaking branches maximum support. We can rely on bilingual experts in every shared service and Advisory domain. And new initiatives such as the PIA intranet and the PIA Academy, our training programme for office workers, are rolled out as standard in both French and Dutch.”

Benjamin Biesmans, Senior Investment Manager at Baltisse, the family office of PIA Group investor Filip Balcaen, is very enthusiastic about this new growth milestone for PIA Group. “From day one, Baltisse had great belief in the international dimension of the concept of PIA Group. The combination of the strength of local entrepreneurship and benefits of scale is a unique proposition that appeals to ambitious accountants/entrepreneurs in every market we’ve entered so far. This strengthens our conviction that the best is yet to come for PIA Group. Steven, Nathalie and the entire team can rely on our support 200%.”