Groupe Fnac Darty, formerly Kesa Electricals plc, Darty plc and Darty Limited, is a
multinational retail company headquartered in
Ivry-sur-Seine
Ivry-sur-Seine () is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris.
Paris's main Asian district, the Quartier Asiatique in the 13th arrondissement, borders the ...
, France. It was formerly a
public limited company
A public limited company (legally abbreviated to PLC or plc) is a type of public company under United Kingdom company law, some Commonwealth jurisdictions, and the Republic of Ireland. It is a limited liability company whose shares may be fre ...
(PLC) listed on the
London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a stock exchange in the City of London, England, United Kingdom. , the total market value of all companies trading on LSE was £3.9 trillion. Its current premises are situated in Paternoster Square close to St P ...
, until it was merged with
Fnac
Fnac () is a large French retail chain selling culture, cultural and consumer electronics, electronic products, founded by André Essel and Max Théret in 1954. Its head office is in ''Le Flavia'' in Ivry-sur-Seine near Paris. It is an abbreviati ...
in 2016 and subsequently moved the listing to
Euronext Paris.
History
In 1957, the Darty family – the father and his three sons, Natan, Marcel and Bernard – managed a small store of textiles. The Darty brothers started to sell stock and, to attract customers, they left the goods on the pavement. Within a few days, the stock was sold. In 1967, the Darty brothers transferred to a larger warehouse.
In 1988, the company proceeded with the repurchase of the business by its employees through a management buyout. The operation was a success, since 90 per cent of employees participated, taking control of 56 per cent of the capital. By the end of 1988, Darty had opened its 100th store. In 1993, Darty was acquired by
Kingfisher plc
Kingfisher plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational retailing company headquartered in London, England.
It has over 1,300 stores in nine countries, and its brands include B&Q, Castorama, Brico Dépôt and Screwfix. Kingfisher i ...
, which integrated Darty and
Comet
A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ...
into a European entity based in Paris: Kingfisher Electricals S.A. ('Kesa').
In 1999, Darty opened up a commercial internet site. This entity increased in size through acquisitions and by the beginning of 2003 included Darty and But in France, Comet in the United Kingdom, BCC in the Netherlands, Vanden Borre in Belgium and Datart in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. In 2006, Darty launched DartyBox, an ADSL
internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
,
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
and
telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...
s provider based on the network of French internet operator Completel.
The company was demerged from Kingfisher plc in 2003. In July 2007, the company bought Menaje Del Hogar, an electrical retail chain based in Spain. On 6 July 2009, the company sold its
Swiss operation. In 2012, the company completed the sale of
Comet Group
Comet Electricals Limited, trading as Comet, is an online electrical retail chain based in the United Kingdom. The company sells consumer electronics and white goods, along with related products and services. Its predecessor, under the same bra ...
, which they sold for £2 to
OpCapita
OpCapita is a British private equity firm specialising in the retail, consumer and leisure industries. The firm invests in underperforming businesses that require operational support to improve profitability and create long-term, sustainable value ...
, and paid the purchaser a sweetener of £50 million to take the loss-making venture away.
In 2012, Kesa Electricals was renamed Darty plc. In March 2014, Darty launched its own marketplace (developed by
Mirakl) that lists products and services from Darty and third-party vendors. In November 2015, Darty plc reached an agreement to merge with the French retailer
Fnac
Fnac () is a large French retail chain selling culture, cultural and consumer electronics, electronic products, founded by André Essel and Max Théret in 1954. Its head office is in ''Le Flavia'' in Ivry-sur-Seine near Paris. It is an abbreviati ...
.
In 2016, Darty announced it had instead agreed to be purchased by
Steinhoff International
Steinhoff International is a multinational holding company that is dual listed in Germany and South Africa. Its holdings are in the retail sector, primarily in furniture and household goods, and include a controlling stake in South Africa's ...
for £673 million through Steinhoff's
Conforama
Conforama is Europe's second-largest home furnishings retail chain with over 200 stores in France, Spain, Switzerland, Portugal, Luxembourg, Italy, and Croatia.
History and ownership
In the early 1960s, Pierre and Guy Sordoillet, Jean Moll ...
subsidiary. Fnac returned with a higher offer, resulting in a bidding war between Fnac and Conforama during April 2016. The Fnac offer was declared unconditional on 19 July 2016, thereby allowing the takeover to be completed.
In 2019, Fnac Darty acquired Natures & Decouvertes, an outdoor, nature and well-being goods specialist.
Operations
Darty was headquartered in London. It had sourcing offices based in Paris and Hong Kong, as well as a wholly owned wholesaler of electrical accessories,
Dacem Dacem is a wholesaler of electrical accessories, established in 1984. The company sources products, negotiates with suppliers, purchases products and brings them into its warehouse and afterwards sells the products, normally to electrical retailers. ...
, which supplied all of Darty's European operations.
Following the takeover by
Fnac
Fnac () is a large French retail chain selling culture, cultural and consumer electronics, electronic products, founded by André Essel and Max Théret in 1954. Its head office is in ''Le Flavia'' in Ivry-sur-Seine near Paris. It is an abbreviati ...
, Fnac and Darty merged, the Fnac group became Fnac Darty and the Darty headquarters joined the Fnac headquarters in Ivry Sur Seine.
Its structure is as follows:
*Darty: retailer in France; operating 222 stores with 321,800 square metres of selling space
*Vanden Borre & Fnac Belgium: retailer in
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
; operating 72 stores with 55,600 square metres of selling space
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Companies based in Île-de-France
Retail companies established in 1957
Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange
Companies listed on Euronext Paris
Consumer electronics retailers
Electronics companies of France
Multinational companies headquartered in France
Video game retailers
Retail companies of France
French companies established in 1957