Whitewood

What Whitewood does

Whitewood is a Belgium-headquartered real asset investment firm founded in 2008 by Frédéric Van der Planken, operating across the Benelux region with offices in Brussels, Rotterdam, and Antwerp. The firm operates as a fully integrated investment platform combining fund and investment management, project development, commercial asset management, and property management under one roof, with 73 employees managing approximately €4.5 billion in total assets across five funds and separate mandates. Whitewood targets institutional investors including pension funds, insurance companies, and private equity firms who provide capital for thematic real-asset strategies spanning office real estate, logistics, infrastructure, energy, and natural resources, with a strong focus on ESG-aligned urban transformation.

The firm's core technology is its integrated real-asset management platform, operated through Whitewood AIFM — a fully licensed Alternative Investment Fund Manager under the Belgian regulator FSMA, which the firm describes as the most demanding level of governance for alternative funds in Europe and which carries EU passport rights. The platform combines acquisition sourcing, in-house development, asset repositioning, and ongoing property operations, enabling full control from deal origination through long-term asset stewardship. Whitewood applies a proprietary "Urban Glow" development philosophy centered on circular material reuse, brown-to-green transformation of obsolete office stock, and stakeholder-driven neighborhood regeneration. The company has delivered measurable sustainability outcomes including the first AirScore Platinum building in Europe (MANHATTAN), 100% WELL Platinum on OXY, multiple BREEAM Outstanding/Excellent certifications, and 89% concrete reuse on the MULTI project.

Whitewood's revenue model is layered across management fees, capital deployment charges, carried interest on outperformance, and direct co-investment returns. Management and fund administration fees cover ongoing reporting, risk management, and compliance; deployment-based percentage fees compensate for asset stewardship; carried interest aligns manager and investor outcomes when business-plan targets are exceeded; and equity co-investment (typically 10% stakes) provides dividend and capital-gain participation. Expected FY2025 revenue is approximately €19 million according to the L'Echo interview with the CEO, against €4.5 billion in AUM. Customer concentration is institutional and includes the European Commission (21 buildings, €900M transaction), the Belgian Federal Government (North Galaxy), UBP, Fubon Financial, Tristan Capital Partners, Home Invest Belgium, Immobel, DWP, and SFPI — generating visibility but also exposing revenue to large-deal timing risk.

Name

Whitewood

Legal name

WHITEWOOD NV/SA

Website

https://whitewood.eu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Whitewood is a Belgium-based real asset investment firm managing €4.5 billion in AUM across five funds and separate mandates for institutional investors, combining fund management, development, and property operations across Benelux.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Real Asset Investment Management

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (52394), Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525)

SIC

Real Estate Agents & Managers (For Others) (6531), Land Subdividers & Developers (No Cemeteries) (6552)

akta.pro primary industry

Real Estate Funds — Opportunistic / Development (FSANAEAI)

Keywords

• Real asset management
• Fund management services
• Real estate investment
• Property development
• Alternative investment funds

Headquarters

HQ city

Antwerp

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Asset Management Fees: Whitewood charges fees for services rendered to investors, including fund management operations (financial and regulatory reporting), fund risk management and analysis, and client onboarding.
2. Capital Deployment Fees: Percentage charge on the amount invested, representing remuneration for the responsibility taken on the buildings and assets under management.
3. Carried Interest: Bonus received when investment returns exceed the business plan targets. This aligns manager and investor objectives, as Whitewood is often a co-investor alongside clients.
4. Dividend and Capital Gains Participation: Whitewood receives share of dividends and capital gains as co-investor in projects, with the company typically holding stakes (e.g., 10% in OXY project) alongside institutional investors.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Whitewood is a full-spectrum real asset investment and management firm that structures and manages thematic funds for institutional investors across Belgium and the Netherlands. The firm combines fund management, project development, and property management under an FSMA AIFM license, deploying capital into real estate, infrastructure, logistics, energy, and natural resources. Revenue is generated through management fees, capital deployment percentages, carried interest, and co-investment returns.

Product overview

Whitewood operates as a full-spectrum real asset investment and management platform combining financial asset management, real estate development, and proactive property operations. The platform is organized around five core services: Fund & Investment Management, Fund Services (AIFM-licensed), Commercial Asset Management, Project Development, and Property Management. Key managed funds include the Cityforward Fund (brown-to-green urban transformation) and Star Galaxy Fund. Notable development projects include OXY Brussels (mixed-use with hotel, residences, offices), MULTI Brussels (first fossil-fuel-free building), REGENT Brussels (three-building office complex), ELYPS Brussels (50,500 sqm office upgrade), and MANHATTAN Brussels (68,000 sqm landmark). The company manages approximately €4.5 billion in total assets across Belgium and the Netherlands, with operations spanning real estate, infrastructure, logistics, energy, and natural resources sectors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Fund & Investment Management
• Fund Services
• Commercial Asset Management
• Project Development
• Property Management
• Cityforward Fund
• Star Galaxy Fund
• Logistics Asset Management

Quantifiable outcome

• 89% of existing concrete reused in MULTI project, saving 20,000 tons of CO2
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and major.

• Home Invest Belgium (HOMI)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 August 2025Landmark agreement where Cityforward and HOMI partnered to acquire eight projects totaling approximately 70,000 m² of sustainable housing in Brussels' European district. Transforming obsolete EC offices into vibrant mixed-use neighborhoods.
• ImmobelcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed Belgian developer partnering with Whitewood on OXY Brussels mixed-use redevelopment. Whitewood initially managed the project for an American investor, then partnered 50/50 with Immobel for the transformation of Centre Monnaie into hotel, apartments, and offices.
• Rotor DCminorOthersCircularity partner for MULTI project, cooperating on urban mining of iconic Belgian locations to source materials for building transformation with highest percentage of reused materials in Brussels.
• Snøhetta & Binst ArchitectsmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAward-winning architectural firms leading the design of OXY Brussels mixed-use redevelopment, combining international and local expertise for the landmark transformation project.

Scale indicators22 records

Recent moves12 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• CBRE Investment Management: Global real estate investment management arm of CBRE — Whitewood's founder Frédéric Van der Planken was previously head of investment at CBRE. CBRE IM offers a much larger, multi-strategy real estate platform with deep European presence, making it the natural broad incumbent comparable in Whitewood's core institutional investment management market.
• DWS Real Estate: Global real estate investment management arm of DWS Group, managing European core/value-add/opportunistic real estate funds. Comparable as an institutional European real estate fund manager with regulated AIFM-equivalent platform and ESG-aligned product set serving pension funds and insurers.
• Union Investment Real Estate: Hamburg-based European real estate investment manager with one of the largest open-ended real estate fund platforms in Europe. Comparable as an institutional fund manager with ESG integration, serving pension funds and insurers, with a much larger and more diversified European footprint.
• AXA IM Alts: European large-cap alternative asset manager (real estate, infrastructure, private debt) within AXA. Offers institutional clients integrated real asset fund products, ESG-aligned strategies, and AIFM-style regulated platforms at substantially greater scale than Whitewood but with overlapping investor segments.

Direct peers

• Immobel: Listed Belgian real estate developer that is Whitewood's 50/50 co-development partner on OXY Brussels. Operates in Belgian mixed-use and office development with comparable Brussels focus, institutional capital base, and sustainability positioning — making it a directly comparable Belgian developer-developer peer.
• AG Real Estate: Belgian real estate investment manager and developer, owned by Ageas. Operates in the same Belgian institutional real estate fund/asset management market as Whitewood, with overlapping client base of pension funds and insurers, and comparable focus on mixed-use and office redevelopments.
• Patrizia: European real estate investment manager headquartered in Germany, managing capital across European cities with institutional LPs. Comparable in offering vertically integrated real estate investment, fund management, and asset management services with a similar mid-size AUM profile and ESG-aligned strategy.
• Tristan Capital Partners: London-based European real estate private equity manager that is an active co-investment partner of Whitewood on the REGENT Brussels project. Tristan operates in the same value-add/opportunistic European real estate fund management space with similar institutional LP base and pan-European focus.

Regional players

• Befimmo (now Brookfield-owned): Belgian REIT historically focused on Brussels office space, now owned by Brookfield. Comparable as a Belgian institutional real estate investor/operator, though Befimmo's portfolio was repositioned and the firm no longer operates as an independent peer in the same niche.

Emerging players

• Catella Real Estate: European real estate investment manager with Nordic origins and pan-European fund products. Comparable as a mid-size European real estate fund manager with institutional LPs and focus on value-add/opportunistic strategies across multiple European geographies.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/whitewood-group
• Facebookfacebook.com/whitewoodcapital

Compliance20 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Whitewood