With approval from the Russian competition authority, the REWE Group is acquiring twelve City stores of the Russian subsidiary OOO ENKA TC of the ENKA Group based in Istanbul. In so doing, the REWE Group is driving forward its expansion strategy in foreign markets. “The acquisition in Russia underscores the strategic significance of foreign business for the REWE Group. In the meantime we are generating around one third of our turnover outside Germany’s borders. Eastern Europe is developing into a big attraction when it comes to foreign growth,” Alain Caparros, CEO of the REWE Group, said.
The acquired locations in the greater metropolitan area of Moscow will be converted to the successful BILLA supermarket format in the coming months and be integrated into the existing distribution network. The company also plans to open around ten new BILLA stores by the end of the year, while continued investment will be made in the quality and modernization offensive.
“The Russian market is one of the growth markets for us, where we see great potential. Particularly as the greater metropolitan area of Moscow has high purchasing power,” explained Frank Hensel, CEO of REWE International AG. “We intend to further expand our development options in particular in this region in the future – full exploitation of the market is far from complete,” according to Hensel.
In the past financial year 2011 BILLA Russia achieved a clear increase in growth of 14.6 per cent to EUR 436.4 million (+16.3 per cent adjusted for the exchange rate) and is thus once again the most successful foreign market of REWE International AG, which controls the full-range business in Russia from Wiener Neudorf, Austria. The positive development is also reflected in the other corporate figures. For instance, the number of employees compared to the previous year 2010 rose from 2,821 to 3,107. In addition, the network of stores in Russia was supplemented by a total of four locations; at the end of 2011 the network comprised 72 stores.
Source: www.freshplaza.com