- Joint negotiations with multinational suppliers on global level
- Combined sourcing of non-food private label products
- Partnership brings benefits for customers
- Agreement effective from November 2014
Croix/Düsseldorf, 2014-10-23— /EPR Retail News/ — Within the framework of the changing global retail environment, METRO GROUP and Groupe Auchan today announced their agreement to enter into an international purchasing partnership. This cooperation is clustered in two agreements that will combine the complementary strengths of the retailer Groupe Auchan and the wholesale and food retail divisions of METRO GROUP.
- In the first place, an international cooperation agreement enabling joint negotiations of additional and on specific international services and conditions for the most important international suppliers of branded consumer products on global level.
- Secondly, an international sourcing agreement will be put in place enabling joint worldwide purchasing of non-food products that each company will resell individually under its own brand labels or as no-name labels.
Electronic consumer products are excluded from these two agreements.
The agreed partnership combines for the first time the bargaining power of two leading companies, which operate two different business models with an ideal geographical fit.
The partnership is new in the worldwide retail environment, as it is combining the purchasing powers of a predominantly wholesaling company with those of one of the leading retailers. For the partnership, there is no overlap between Groupe Auchan and METRO GROUP in terms of sales activities in the same geographical markets. Groupe Auchan’s core business is in the retail market for sale of daily goods to consumers. METRO GROUP is active in the wholesale sector for business customers and food retail activities in countries where Groupe Auchan is not present. This led the two groups to consider the development of a partnership that will bring business growth and benefits for costumers.
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METRO GROUP is one of the largest and most important international trading companies. During the financial year 2012/13 (pro forma), it generated sales of about €66 billion. The company operates around 2,200 stores in 31 countries and has a headcount of around 250,000 employees.
The performance of METRO GROUP is based on the strength of its sales brands that operate independently in their respective market segments: METRO/MAKRO Cash & Carry – the international leader in self-service wholesale – Media Markt and Saturn – the European market leader in consumer electronics retailing – Real hypermarkets and Galeria Kaufhof department stores.
GROUPE AUCHAN is the world’s 11th largest food retailer. It operates in 16 countries and has 302,000 employees.
It is structured into 5 core businesses: hypermarkets (839 fully-consolidated stores and 154 under management mandates, associated or franchised), supermarkets (818 fully-consolidated stores and 1,928 franchised and associated), retail real estate (Immochan), banking (Oney Banque Accord), e-commerce and other activities. The Group’s vision is to improve the purchasing power and quality of life for the greatest number of customers, with responsible, professional, committed and respected employees.
In 2013, Groupe Auchan reached a consolidated revenue excluding taxes of €48.1 billion, 58% coming from outside France.
More information on www.groupe-auchan.com.
Press contact: François Cathalifaud – Tel. + 33 (0)1 58 65 08 10 – fcathalifaud@auchan.fr
Investor relations: Vincent Schiltz – Tel. + 33 (0)3 20 81 68 54 – v.schiltz@auchan.fr