2theloo, a Dutch chain of ‘toilet stores’, is looking for a new owner. A deal with a German buyer is said to be in the pipeline, even though the chain has been loss-making for years.
Search for new money
After ten years in the chain’s capital, shareholder Avedon is now said to be looking to offload its share to a new buyer. There would be “concrete German interest”, according to Dutch newspaper Financieele Dagblad this could be from Sanifair or CWS.
Avedon has so far seen little profit, with the Dutch toilet chain seeing its net loss almost double to over four million euros in 2023. The auditor even worried about the company’s future in the annual report: although operating results improved sharply in 2024, the chain failed to repay a loan of 10 million euros.
2024 was “a good year”
Managing director Chris Meijers insists there is no reason to panic, and stresses that the loan has been extended and that refinancing is being actively pursued. Some new locations, which temporarily depressed the figures in 2023, are now profitable. Meijers therefore expects an operating profit of several million for 2024.
2theloo currently has 184 locations in Europe, including recent expansions at Belgian railways and new branches in France, Germany and the Netherlands. One main competitor is Dutch One Hundred Restrooms with its 85 branches in six countries: while it is still substantially smaller in terms of locations, it is gaining ground.
