To our great sadness, Jaap Rosen Jacobson (73), founder and CEO of Panta Holdings B.V. died on July 31, 2023 from the consequences of a cerebral hemorrhage.
Panta was founded in 1984 by Jaap Rosen Jacobson. In the 1980s, together with partners in Wolters Schaberg, he made many successful turnaround investments in Xenos, Society Shop and Jamin, among others. Later, Jaap continued independently with Panta. In the 40 years since, Panta has become a major investment company with wholly or majority holdings in aviation, real estate, hotels and technology companies, among others. Jaap purchased the Vlaamse Luchtvaart Maatschappij (VLM), then a small airline, in the mid-1990s, which under his reign became a serious regional player in city-to-city business travel. VLM was an important accelerator of the growth of London City Airport, and was sold to Air France-KLM in 2007. In addition, Panta also committed to the restart of Fokker and the evolution of the Fokker 100 with Rekkof.
Recent success stories include Postillion Hotels, a Dutch hotel chain that has become a major player in business travel and conferences after its re-establishment by Panta. In addition to several conference hotels in the Randstad, a new conference hotel was built in Amsterdam and opened in 2018. Fokker Services Group, acquired in early 2021, was transformed into a fast-growing and profitable company. Panta is also (co-)investor in various real estate projects such as the Hollands Spoor area in The Hague, the Hembrugterrein in Zaandam and Downtown in Rotterdam.
From his drive to make the impossible possible, Jaap took up the challenge to make flying sustainable in the future. That is why Panta decided to invest in new and innovative projects such as Fokker Next Gen, a company that, building on Fokker's intellectual property, is developing an entirely new regional aircraft based on hydrogen.
In addition to his business activities, Jaap devoted many years to human rights as a board member of Amnesty International, first within the Netherlands and later worldwide. Until this summer he was also chairman of the Museum Engelandvaarders in Noordwijk.
Jaap had already decided to reduce his business activities so that Panta has anticipated to ensure its continuity. Despite this great loss, Panta and its associates will continue to work with the same drive to realize their founder's vision.
If you have any questions, please contact Monuta, Hans Bleijerveld, via hbleijerveld@monuta.nl or +31 (0)55-527 427 7
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