REWE Group Focuses on Retailing and Travel and Tourism
Cologne, 03.11.10
Swiss COOP takes over 100 percent of B2B business of transGourmet Group
For REWE Group, the Cologne-based trading and travel and tourism group, the sale of the B2B business means they are now focussing on their core business. "We are consistently concentrating on the successful further development of our core businesses retailing and travel and tourism in Germany and our foreign European markets, particularly in Austria and Eastern Europe", explained Alain Caparros, CEO of REWE Group. From the point of view of REWE Group, COOP's takeover of the B2B business was a logical continuation of the approach adopted in recent years by REWE Group in terms of their functional and corporate strategy. "We have carefully worked towards reducing corporate complexity", noted Josef Sanktjohanser, Management Board member at REWE Group and, amongst other things, in charge of the Cash&Carry and Food Service business. "Just five years ago the B2B activities of REWE Group were divided between three companies: a joint venture with the Otto Group in the Cash&Carry segment, a joint venture with the COOP for the wholesale customer business in France and Switzerland and the REWE Commercial Wholesale Customer Service (GVS) in Germany. After the intermediate step of concentrating B2B activities in the joint venture transGourmet Holding two years ago, this business segment is now being completely transferred to our Swiss partner, who is consequently deliberately strengthening its strategic alignment", added Sanktjohanser. He noted that at the same time REWE Group and the Swiss COOP were remaining affiliated companies, which were associated with each other way beyond their cooperative roots. "Both in the strategic alliance COOPERNIC and also in the purchasing alliance EUROGROUP as well as in the Baltic IKI Group jointly held by the COOPERNIC partners – one of the biggest food retailing companies in Lithuania and Latvia – REWE Group and COOP remain close partners", commented Sanktjohanser. In the future Josef Sanktjohanser himself will also continue to remain a member of the Supervisory Board of transGourmet Holding.
In Germany the REWE Group will also remain responsible in the long term for delivering goods and the central regulation of the Food Service and the Cash&Carry business of transGourmet. "Through this contractually agreed cooperation the Swiss COOP generates considerable synergy effects in Germany", explained Sanktjohanser. He added that the company names REWE Foodservice and FEGRO/SELGROS would also be retained in Germany in the long term.
With sales of more than 50 billion euros and 330,000 employees, REWE Group is one of the leading trading and travel and tourism companies in Germany and Europe. The company, that was established more than 80 years ago, is present in 16 countries with more than 15,000 stores. The sales lines include supermarkets and hypermarkets, such as REWE, toom and BILLA, the discounter PENNY, the toom DIY stores and the electronics store ProMarkt. The travel and tourism division comprises the tour operators ITS, JAHN REISEN and TJAEREBORG as well as Dertour, Meier’s Weltreisen and ADAC Reisen, and about 2,500 travel agencies.
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REWE GROUP-Corporate Communications
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E-Mail: presse(at)rewe-group.com
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