Arnold Benoot

Arnold Benoot (born 1977) is General Counsel and a Director at Saffelberg Investments NV, the independent Belgian investment company founded in 2007 by entrepreneur Jos Sluys. He joined Saffelberg in early 2010 as a Director focused on legal matters and today leads all legal aspects of the group's investment activities, with a strong emphasis on M&A transactions, deal structuring, and negotiations. His work spans the full investment lifecycle — due diligence, documentation, financing, and governance.

Before Saffelberg, Benoot built his career in-house at Belgian and international technology companies. He served as a legal advisor at the Belgian stock-quoted ICT company Dolmen Computer Applications (now RealDolmen), and subsequently as Head of Legal for NorthgateArinso across its EMEA and US operations, giving him substantial cross-border transactional and corporate-law experience.

He holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from KU Leuven (2000) and a post-graduate diploma in management from VUB–Solvay Business School (2004/2005). He also acts through Themis Consulting and Advisory BV and sits on the boards of several companies.

In 2021, Benoot joined Deminor — a Saffelberg portfolio company active in litigation funding and shareholder recovery — as a Non-Executive Director, participating in its board and strategic meetings.

• Saffelberg makes long-term investments by taking substantial minority stakes in fast-growing ventures, using equity and/or mezzanine financing rather than short-hold buyouts.
• Deploys from a ~€400 million evergreen capital base, spanning early-stage venture capital through later-stage private equity (a portfolio of ~40 companies in 2023, ~49 by 2026).
• Sector focus is deliberately diverse, but AI, IoT, and Life Sciences have become key focus areas in recent years; top portfolio concentrations are in enterprise applications and high tech.
• Adds value beyond capital through executive support, governance, and an extensive European relationship network; combined portfolio turnover exceeds €1 billion (~3,500 employees).
• Benoot's specific mandate is legal and transactional: deal structuring, M&A, and negotiation — he is the gatekeeper for documentation and terms once a deal advances.