Henry Holterman is a numbers man. In this invisible but fundamental universe there is no room for misinterpretation or sentimentality. So, by the numbers, the Dutch investor is among the most successful dealmakers of the last few decades in Greece. From the recent deal to sell his 9.75% stake in Alpha Bank, profitable transactions in GEK TERNA, Hellaktor and the capital gains from his holdings in Greece, both visible and hidden, are estimated to have so far earned a sum approaching €1 billion.
They have been reported to have accumulated over the past few years, and in the meantime, the company has been able to report a total of more than 1 billion euros in assets to date.
An impressive performance, but fully justified. Those who have met him speak of an absolutely disciplined investor, with a clear focus and a special ability to identify undervalued assets, making positions without loans and margins.
In all cases of his investment moves in our country, those who have interacted with him say that he is a result-oriented person, who is not influenced by his thymic or ego, even in the tough races that have arisen. Just business, aiming for maximum profit. If others win along with it that’s fine, but it’s not an end in itself. The obstacles that appear in his path are an opportunity to rethink strategy and seek alternative moves to ensure a successful exit. No matter how long it takes.
Ellaktor and GEK TERNA
His moves reflect what he stands for in terms of investment. In early 2018 and in the midst of the shareholder civil war at Hellaktor, Holterman travelled by private plane to Athens at the invitation of the Kallitsantsis brothers who were seeking support for the proxy war that would shake the historic group, with the aim of overthrowing the then management of the construction group.
The talks did not end positively, as did another venture, that of acquiring then Forthnet in partnership with the Odyssey-Athena group, but another opportunity had already arisen that brought him first a 10% and then a 30% stake in GEK Terna. He left the group of Mr George Peristeri after a long time but for an estimated €200 million. Having new firepower, he was placed in the Hellactor group and after more than two years of fierce competition, first with the Kallitsantsis side and later with the triumvirate of Kaymenakis – Bakos – Exarchos, he finally prevailed, having also secured a strong alliance with the Vardinoyannis group.
At Alpha Bank
This was followed by the asset sale of the once-mighty Hellactor group, which was done with mathematical sequence precision, and in 2021, when investment grade was still a distant goal for Greece, he invested in Alpha Bank.
And while tons of ink had been spilled about how the Dutchman would become… a banker and increase his stake in the bank even further, he correctly interpreted the signs and decided to sell his stake, reaping a profit of more than €340 million. At the same time, he retains a 3.95% stake in Optima Bank, which he acquired in the IPO for €21 million, a stake currently valued at approximately €60 million.
Dutch… dream
Holterman could be said to be the epitome of the “Dutch dream”, an expression that is, of course, incongruous because, given the journalistic cliché, such stories happen all the time in America. And yet, its trajectory to date has the characteristics of a story that would easily transfer to cinema.
Born in 1955, after his studies, he began working as a chartered accountant. Legend has it that he was assigned to audit VolkerWessels, one of the largest and oldest Dutch groups active in construction and infrastructure, with Reggeborgh as its investment arm. At that time he meets and marries Herita, one of the two daughters of owner Dick Wessels.
And Vessels, after all, started from the bottom. He worked in the carpentry business founded by his father, Arendt, in 1933. In 1968, at the age of 22, he took over management of the company and grew it rapidly, becoming one of the largest construction groups in Europe. In 2017, when Wessels passed away, he held third place on the list of the richest Dutchmen, with an estimated fortune of around €4 billion. Holterman took over the reins of the Vessels family business empire in 2017 after the death of his father-in-law.
Reggeborgh, founded in 1990 to manage investments for the Dutch Vessel family, has now developed a portfolio of more than 20 companies in a variety of sectors, ranging from infrastructure and real estate to energy, medical research, and new technologies. The company operates in Europe and the Americas, and its portfolio includes companies such as Koninklijke VolkerWessels, DW Property, Prescan, Tesorio, and EVI. In total, the family’s assets are estimated at €15-20 billion.
The Dutch investment fund also has significant investment positions, led by a 3.04% stake in ABN Amro Bank. Reggeborgh became the fifth largest shareholder in ABN Amro behind the Dutch state, US-based MFS Investment Management, Norwegian NBIM, and BlackRock. The fund had earlier sold ING its 17.6% stake in Dutch private asset manager Van Lanschot Kempen.
The World Online case
Those who know Holterman associate his name with the description “gambler”. In Greek, the designation leaves room for many interpretations, but in the case of the Dutchman it can be said literally, as it captures his appeal for financial investments.
However, one of these was destined to cause Holterman problems, which he successfully overcame and reaped significant gains, which would continue to happen in the future. Reggeborgh was among the original investors in the technology company World Online, retaining a significant stake at the time of its listing in 2000. After the IPO, however, its shares suffered a significant drop, causing losses for many investors, but not for Reggeborgh, as it was revealed that it had sold before the collapse.
Holterman’s involvement with World Online also had legal ramifications, as the company’s founder, Nina Brink (aka Nina Storms) claimed €182 million from Reggeborgh, claiming it was owed to her under an agreement. The dispute lasted nearly two decades and was eventually settled out of court, with the Dutchman having said there was no wrongdoing in the company’s listing and that the responsibility for the losses lay with investors’ exaggerated expectations.
Under Holterman, the family office made other profitable moves, despite being under the microscope of the supervisory authorities, and in addition to World Online, the family office made significant gains from the fibre-optic companies Reggefiber and Eurofiber, as well as the investment bank NIBC.
It all started in Corfu
At the same time, Greece enters his life, and surely even he would not have expected that in our country, he would discover a gold mine of goodwill that added about 1 billion euros to his fortune. About 25 years ago, together with his wife, Herita, they decided to buy a holiday home in Corfu. They acquired a magnificent property in Kassiopi, an area of unique natural beauty in the north of the island where, among others, are the holiday homes of the Rothschild family, German investor Yergk Rockenhizer (Permira), Rob Lucas (CVC Capital), and other super-rich.
That’s when he met Mr. Nikos Dendia, one of the island’s best-known lawyers at the time, and long before the Corfiot lawyer, originally from Paxos, entered politics and was elected as a member of parliament. The Dendia law firm handled most of the cases of the Dutch businessman, who proved to be extremely active in investing in the country.
Holterman’s ties with the Faiacs Island would prove strong in the process. He would buy a dream villa in the Kommeno area, and almost every summer, he would enjoy the beauty and refined gastronomy of Corfu. From there, he gazes at the green and blue of the bay of Gouvia, which is often crossed by the “Guilty”, the famous boat of the Ioannou family, who also maintain a holiday home in the same area.
Of course, Holterman knows his way around a yacht himself, having years ago acquired the 47-metre yacht “Lars” built at the well-known Italian shipyard Sanlorenzo. However, a few years ago, he put it up for sale for 24 million euros, and it eventually changed hands for an undisclosed price.
Unlike the sea, land seems to be the great love of the now 70-year-old businessman. The properties he has acquired in Corfu, as well as in Athens, are just as unique as the equity investments he has made in the country. One could say that the real estate purchases he has made reflect his investment philosophy. These were properties with excellent location and characteristics, just waiting for someone to bring out their value.
A typical example is the historic “Corfu Palace” hotel, which he bought, it was reported, for €30 million from the Fokas family. The hotel started operating in 1962 and is literally in a prime location in the island town, but it has gone from periods of glory to periods of decline, as it required heavy maintenance and renovation, which was done intermittently and never completely.
The “Corfu Palace” in the hands of the Dutchman is now being completely renovated, in an investment of 20 million euros, and when it reopens in 2026, it will claim a good slice of the luxury hoteling pie on the cosmopolitan island. Two years ago, it also acquired just two blocks from the “Corfu Palace,” another neoclassical building overlooking Garitsa Bay, totalling 1,000 square metres, at a price of more than 2 million euros.
Five years ago, he appeared to have acquired in Corfu and the famous Red House or Antico Rosso, for 8 million euros. It is a property of stunning beauty with a 17th-century mansion built on the ruins of a 13th-century monastery. It belonged to the Kourkoumeli-Rodostamos family, one of the oldest on the island, united by the marriage of Nikolaos Rodostamos and Maria, sister of Ioannis Kapodistrias.
Those who know him say that from the first moment, he loved Corfu, and he constantly makes sure to prove it. He has made donations to the island’s hospital, the Coast Guard, the Police, supports the Center for the Disabled “Melissa” and the Corfu ambulance, but also non-profit organizations, sports clubs, and federations through Hellaktor. In 2022, he, his wife, and their son were honorary naturalized Greek citizens.
The next step
The properties he has acquired in Corfu are not the only ones, as he has also made several purchases in Athens. In the capital, real estate insiders say Holterman has built up a substantial property portfolio, part of which was acquired by REDS, which paid €80 million to acquire Athens Properties from Holding Greece B.V., a company managed by the Holterman family. Hestia Luxury Apartments, a subsidiary of Athens Properties B.V., manages 10 fully renovated buildings in prime locations. It also owns other properties, in addition to those in Corfu and those owned by Hellaktor.
Real estate, moreover, is one of his favorite investments. In the Netherlands, the couple Henry and Herita reside in an understated luxury residence in Holden, a picturesque town known for its natural beauty and the Sallandse Heuvelrug National Park. When it was acquired, it was worth under 1 million, while today it is priced several times that.
His penchant for investing in real estate leads many to conclude that his next step after his successful deals in Greece with GEK Terna, Hellactor, and Alpha Bank will be real estate, specifically the creation of a property management company. Hellactor, following the sale of its assets (most recently Aktor Concessions), now has, through REDS, its most important asset, Alimos Marina, although there have been reports that its sale has been discussed, which remains to be seen if it is true. REDS, on the other hand, has agreed to sell to Dimand two of its very important projects, the project at Gournes in Heraklion, Crete, and the Cambas Project at Kantza, Pallini.
The company still has several assets in Greece and abroad, with REDS getting into hotels as well, as together with SWOT they have entered into a 25-year lease of the hotel property on Kifissia Avenue (formerly “Civitel”), owned by the Hellenic Olympic Committee, which they are renovating, while they are also expected to collaborate on “Corfu Palace”.
What is certain is that a few days ago, REDS Hospitality was established by the parent company REDS, owned by Hellaktor, in order to operate in the wider hospitality sector. In addition to the Hestia Luxury Apartments properties and hotels, other moves are being prepared, and it is no coincidence that REDS is participating in the ETAD’s tender for the long-term lease of Vouliagmeni Beach in a joint venture with the Melissanidis family’s Aegean Warehouses.
These are the facts, with real estate coming to the fore. Beyond that, Reggeborgh, after selling its stake in Alpha Bank, said it will continue to invest in Greece. However, this is not 2018, when valuations were still low, the economy has taken the investment grade, and the stock market has hit 15-year highs again. What will be Holterman’s next move as a player?
- Henry Holterman: Dutch Midas found a 1 billion euro gold opportunity in Greece appeared first on ProtoThema English.