Maxeda

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Activity

Non-food retailer

Location

Benelux region primarily

Acquired

September 2004

Transaction value

€2.4 billion

Sales^*

€3.2 billion

Employees

Approximately 28,000

^*12 months ending January 2009

Go to www.maxeda.com for more information about Maxeda

1,423 stores across 16 countries in Europe and worldwide

Business description
Maxeda is the largest non-food retailer in the Benelux region, operating formats that, at the time of the acquisition by Cinven, ranged from department stores to ‘do it yourself’ (DIY) and speciality stores.

Cinven strategy
Together with its partners in this investment, Cinven has strengthened the management team and implemented a strategy to focus on its core retail business.

During the first years of our ownership, the focus was on the improvement of all retail formats, the realisation of gains from working capital, and the sale and leaseback of the property portfolio. Within the business portfolio, we successfully divested improved retail formats such as Hema and the consumer electronics businesses.

The retail improvement strategy has resulted in a strong increase in sales in existing stores and strong growth in the store network, more efficient sourcing, savings in costs, improvements in cash flow and the generation of synergies across the group.

In today’s more difficult market conditions, the focus is on preserving value by protecting sales, margins and cash flows.

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