VDL Vice-Chairman Threatens to Pull Out of Van Hool Deal, Sparking a Race for Jobs in Belgium’s Bus Building Sector

On Wednesday, VDL vice-chairman Rolf-Jan Zweep put pressure on the curators of bus builder Van Hool, stating that they would walk away if a decision was not made in their favor that night. This came after Van Hool filed for bankruptcy on Monday and it initially appeared that the Dutch-German duo VDL-Schmitz Cargobull was the primary contender to restart Van Hool. However, other potential buyers emerged and the unions urged the trustees to carefully consider all offers to preserve as many jobs as possible. Businessman Guido Dumarey proposed a plan that would retain more jobs in the long term.

Despite this, the curators ultimately decided to proceed with the existing bids after discussions with the parties involved in order to avoid detrimental delays that could impact the company’s value, production, and employment. The trustees argue that the takeover by VDL and Schmitz Cargobull is the best solution for maintaining employment at Van Hool. Schmitz Cargobull intends to continue production in Lier and even plans to build a new production facility there, while VDL also aims to retain jobs in Lier.