A Powerful Joint Venture for More Internationalisation and Expansion: COOP Switzerland and REWE Group Establish Europe's Second-Largest B2B Enterprise

Cologne/Basle, 27.10.08

The two trading companies COOP (Switzerland) and REWE Group (Germany) have reached an agreement to establish a new joint venture to be named "transGourmet Holding S.E.". Pending approval of the cartel monitoring authorities, the international cash-and-carry business and food service operations of the two companies will in future be combined under the umbrella of "transGourmet Holding". The new company will earn a turnover of around 6.5 billion euros (2008) with more than 21,000 employees. This will make transGourmet Holding S.E. into the second-largest cash-and-carry and food service enterprise in Europe. COOP and REWE Group each hold a share of 50 per cent of the new joint venture.

COOP Switzerland and REWE Group are ideal partners: By establishing "transGourmet Holding", these two successful co-operatives, which have each held 50 per cent of "transGourmet Switzerland AG" so far, will combine their expertise in commercial-customer and pick-up wholesale store formats. "We already know each other well thanks to our collaboration in 'transGourmet Switzerland AG", and we thus know each other to be ideal partners for decisively exploiting the growth potential in the European B2B business", said Alain Caparros, CEO of REWE Group, speaking in Cologne today, 27 October. "We are writing a new chapter in the history of our co-operation with COOP, building on the excellent results of the past. We will consistently pursue the development of all markets, particularly in Russia."

Moreover, this step also demonstrates the course of future development for Coopernic, the alliance of the trading companies REWE Group, Colruyt, Conad, E.Leclerc and COOP. "We are more than a purchasing co-operative; we are increasingly becoming a strategic unit", Caparros added.

The regional focus of the expansion plans for the new joint venture lies on the opportunity-rich markets of Central and Eastern Europe. The average growth rates in gross domestic product for Central and Eastern European countries are still above the rates in Western Europe. The Eastern and Central European political and economic systems are stable and provide reliable framework conditions. REWE Group in particular will be able to contribute its positive experiences gained in its B2B business efforts in Romania and Poland, for example, to the new joint venture. "We have found the perfect partner here for attempting a concentrated expansion into the high-growth markets of Central and Eastern Europe", said Hansueli Loosli, CEO of COOP, speaking in Basle.

COOP Switzerland and REWE Group stand to gain from the invigorated partnership in many ways. So, aside from the greater growth potential in Central and Eastern Europe for the two companies, they will also realise improved opportunities to continue developing their domestic markets. "The new joint venture will enjoy a solid future, and more than 21,000 jobs will become even more secure as a result", said Alain Caparros. Moreover, COOP Switzerland and REWE Group will achieve greater effects of larger scale in purchasing in future: "The combination of purchasing volumes will improve our competitive position substantially, and we will be able to offer our customers an even better value for their money", Hansueli Loosli stressed.

Aside from expanding into new sales markets for the other sales lines of COOP Switzerland and REWE Group, the two companies in the new joint venture will also profit from a significant expansion of their know-how. "We can still learn a lot from one another", said Alain Caparros. "We will continue to optimise both business models of our B2B businesses - cash-and-carry and food service - in our new joint venture."

The individual activities of Fegro/Selgros Group, REWE Großverbraucher Service GmbH as well as of transGourmet Switzerland AG will be combined under the umbrella of the new "transGourmet Holding". Fegro/Selgros, the second-largest cash-and-carry chain in Germany, is primarily involved in pick-up wholesale, and it also has operations in Poland, Romania and - starting in December of 2008 - Russia. REWE Großverbraucher Service GmbH is the market leader in the field of German wholesale delivery services. transGourmet Switzerland AG plans to add Prodega/Growa CC (the Swiss market leader in cash-and-carry stores), Howeg (the number 1 Swiss firm in wholesale delivery) and transGourmet France (the French market leader in wholesale delivery) to the new joint venture.

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