Financing the Future of Water: Launch of WIFV Financing Vehicle

15 December 2025

Launch of WIFV: up to €150 million deployed to help companies and municipalities make their water use more sustainable.

An innovative investment vehicle created by Waterleau, SFPIM and Ethias

Waterleau, a company of Group Machiels, SFPIM and Ethias announce the creation of the Waterleau International Finance Vehicle (WIFV), a joint venture capitalized at €30 million dedicated to financing sustainable water infrastructure projects. With the support of local financial partners, this new vehicle will be able to mobilize up to €150 million in investments, enabling companies and municipalities to access advanced water treatment technologies without having to undertake heavy investments on their own balance sheets.

A strategic partnership to accelerate the roll-out of sustainable water infrastructure

Jean-Luc Desire, CEO of Waterleau: “Achieving global sustainability goals for water requires more than technology alone: adequate financing is equally essential. WIFV helps companies accelerate their transition toward sustainable water management, without heavy capital expenditure. By combining Waterleau’s technical expertise with strong institutional backing, we make sustainability truly accessible, while offering investors solid long-term return perspectives.”

WIFV offers a full-service model to support customers in their water projects, from design to maintenance, including financing. This integrated approach aims to remove the main barriers to adopting advanced water treatment technologies and to accelerate the deployment of sustainable infrastructure in Europe, the United States, Morocco and the Middle East.

Through this initiative, the partners combine Waterleau’s solid technical expertise — as the company celebrates its 25th anniversary — with the institutional backing of SFPIM and Ethias, to stimulate, through a new service and financing model, the development of sustainable water projects and the shift toward a more circular approach to water management.

Innovative financing for sustainable and high-performance water infrastructure

In the face of the growing global investment gap in water-related infrastructure — a sector requiring billions of euros to address water scarcity, contamination and ageing installations — WIFV provides a targeted, operational and sustainable solution.

Waterleau combines its role as initial investor with its technical expertise across the entire value chain — from design to maintenance. With the support of SFPIM and Ethias, institutional capital is mobilised to offer clients a long-term, reliable off-balance investment model.

By joining forces, public and private partners enable the accelerated deployment of sustainable, high-performance water treatment infrastructure adapted to the needs of local territories.

The first phase foresees capitalising the vehicle with €30 million, which — through hybrid debt leverage — will allow investments of up to €150 million in two key segments:

Long-term concessions or public-private partnerships (PPP) that ensure stable, recurring revenues while improving the environmental performance of industrial and municipal clients.
Short-term rental solutions, notably through Krofta, a Waterleau subsidiary specialized in compact and mobile flotation systems enabling flexible and rapid deployment of water treatment units.

Louis Machiels, Chairman of Group Machiels: “Waterleau is a global reference player in the treatment of water and wastewater and has built a solid reputation both locally and internationally. As shareholders, we are convinced that this new financing model is essential to further strengthen our environmental impact, while relying on a robust technological foundation. By bringing together renowned institutional partners such as SFPIM and Ethias, we are not only financing water-related projects — we are investing in a more sustainable society.”

Koen Van Loo, CEO, SFPIM : “SFPIM is committed to strengthening Belgium’s strategic industries. The water sector is critical — not only for health and sustainability but also for competitiveness. Waterleau’s WIFV demonstrates how public-private cooperation can generate real solutions for global challenges.”

Joris Laenen, Chief Investment & Life Officer, ETHIAS: “As a responsible investor, Ethias supports initiatives that combine economic value with societal benefit. Clean water is a human and environmental necessity. Partnering with Waterleau allows us to channel capital into projects that deliver measurable impact and long-term resilience.”