Tilman

Who owns Tilman?

Tilman was owned by Eurefi through EUREFI (2001 vintage) from 2003 to 2010.

Hand-verified · updated 2026-04-21

About Tilman

Tilman is a Belgian pharmaceutical laboratory specialised in phytotherapy, the development and manufacture of registered herbal medicines and food supplements derived from plant-based active ingredients. Headquartered in Baillonville in the Belgian Ardennes, it markets a range of around 80 products, including Flexofytol, Sedistress, Antimetil, Biolys and Calmiderm, positioning itself as an over-the-counter alternative to conventional chemical drugs. The company sells in more than 30 countries across Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and as far as Australia, with a reported 29 percent of turnover generated internationally. According to its own disclosures its consolidated sales have reached roughly EUR 60 million, supported by a workforce numbering in the hundreds and an integrated model spanning cultivation, extraction, formulation and packaging of medicinal plants.

Ownership journey

Tilman was founded in Belgium in 1956 by the pharmacist Lucien Tilman, initially as a small producer of medicinal herbal teas, and passed in 1985 to his son Jean-Noel, also a pharmacist, remaining a family-controlled business across three generations. From 2003 the cross-border development-capital fund Eurefi backed the laboratory as an investor, taking a stake to support its transition from a small workshop into an industrial-scale phytotherapy manufacturer. Eurefi remained alongside the family through the company's most intensive expansion phase before exiting in 2010 via a trade sale, secondary transaction. Consistent with the site's public ownership record, no acquirer of that exit is named here and the company has continued under family pharmacist leadership.

Under PE ownership

The period coinciding with Eurefi's involvement saw Tilman move to a new, larger site at Baillonville in 2005, roughly doubling its production capacity and building out a dedicated R&D department to develop and register new herbal medicines. Over that window reported revenue climbed from about EUR 2.5 million to around EUR 8 million and headcount rose from roughly 30 to 75 employees, a step-change from artisanal producer to structured laboratory. The company subsequently added tablet and syrup production lines through a second factory extension in 2012 and a third in 2016, by which point turnover exceeded EUR 30 million and the staff had passed 150. Building on that base, Tilman has since scaled toward reported sales of roughly EUR 60 million and a broadening international footprint, extending its registered-medicine and supplement range across more than 30 markets.