Maxeda is a Dutch retail company owned by American investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.

Activities

Maxeda DIY Group is the market leader in the DIY segment and has 345 stores in the Benelux and more than 7,000 employees. Most stores have a floor space of 3,000 to 5,000 m² and carry the name

Praxis Praxis may refer to: Philosophy and religion * Praxis (process), the process by which a theory, lesson, or skill is enacted, practised, embodied, or realised * Praxis model, a way of doing theology * Praxis (Byzantine Rite), the practice of fai ...

in the Netherlands (195 stores) and Brico in Belgium and Luxembourg (153 stores). Annual turnover is approximately 1.3 billion. All stores have a total of more than 1 million m² of retail space, with more than 1.5 million customers in the store and online every week.

History

The company was created in 1999 after a merger of Vendex (with previously the largest chain

Vroom & Dreesmann Vroom & Dreesmann (V&D) was a Dutch chain of department stores founded in 1887. It was declared bankrupt on 2015, although its branches were still in operation until 2016. On 2016, it was announced that takeover negotiations had not led to an a ...

) and Koninklijke Bijenkorf Beheer (KBB) (with

De Bijenkorf De Bijenkorf (; literally, "the beehive") is a chain of high-end department stores in the Netherlands, with its flagship store on Dam Square in Amsterdam. The chain is owned by Selfridges Group, which also owns Britain's Selfridges and Ireland's ...

and Hema). From 1999 to 2004 it was called Vendex KBB NV. In 2004, it was announced that Vendex KBB NV would be taken over by a group of investors,

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global investment company that manages multiple alternative asset classes, including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate, credit, and, through its strate ...

(KKR), Change Capital Partners and

AlpInvest Partners AlpInvest Partners is a Dutch private equity asset manager with over $47 billion of assets under management as of September 30, 2017. The firm invests on behalf of a broad range of institutional investors from North America, Asia, Europe, South ...

(united in the consortium VDXK Acquisition BV led by KKR). Change Capital later left VDXK. In July 2004, Vendex KBB was definitively taken over by VDXK after all shares were acquired by the group. Until 2 August 2004, Vendex KBB was listed in the Midkap index of Euronext Amsterdam. The company was converted from an NV into a BV, after a few months Koninklijke Vendex KBB BV was closed down, and the BV that had set up the investment company to buy Koninklijke Vendex KBB BV was renamed Vendex KBB BV. KBB stood for Koninklijke Bijenkorf Beheer, but because of the loss of the Royal designation, the K had become a letter without meaning. The company was based in Amsterdam with 25,000 employees (16,000 FTEs) in seven countries (the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark, Germany, France and Spain) and net sales of more than €4 billion (2003/04). The CEO was Tony DeNunzio (chairman of the board). On June 14, 2006, the new owners of Vendex KBB announced that the name was changed to Maxeda to highlight a new business philosophy. In July 2007, HEMA was sold to the British investment company Lion Capital. The acquisition amount has not been released, but analysts estimate it to be approximately €1.3 billion, roughly equal to HEMA's 2006 sales. At the time, HEMA employed approximately 10,000 employees in 336 branches in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Luxembourg. The strategy changed around 2010 and Maxeda continued with the DIY activities and all Maxeda Fashion businesses were sold. V&D was quickly sold to

Sun Capital Partners Sun Capital Partners, Inc., is an American private equity firm specializing in leveraged buyouts. Sun Capital was founded in 1995 by Marc J. Leder and Rodger Krouse, former classmates at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and ...

, de Bijenkorf to Selfridges Group and lingerie chain Hunkemöller to investment company

PAI Partners PAI Partners is a French private equity firm based in Paris, France. It is one of the oldest firms in the sector, with its origins dating back to Paribas Affaires Industrielles, the historical principal investment activity of Paribas, which sta ...

. In January 2011, M&S Mode, a chain of women's fashion stores, was sold to Excellent Retail Brands group (ERB). At that time, M&S Mode had an international network of 417 stores In 2016, private equity parties Ardian and Goldentree, as venture investors (or so-called Distressed Debt Funds), became part owners of Maxeda by converting their loans into shares. The director of Maxeda DIY Group Roel van Neerpelt then left for Friesland Campina and was succeeded by a director of Kingfisher, Frenchman Guy Colleau.

Do-it-yourself chains

* Brico ''(Belgium and Luxembourg)'' *BricoPlanit ''(Belgium)'' *

''(Netherlands)''

Former chains

Clothing * MS Mode ''(at the time known as M&S Mode) (Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, France and Spain)'' - sold in 2010 to Excellent Retail Brands *Hunkemöller (Lingerie) ''(Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, France, Denmark, Curaçao, Saudi-Arabia, Bahrein, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Aruba)'' — in 2010 sold to

. *Claudia Sträter ''(Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany)'' - sold in 2009 Restaurants *La Place ''(Netherlands)'' — sold to Sun European Partners (along with Vroom & Dreesmann) Department stores *

''(Netherlands)'' — in 2010 sold to

Wittington Investments Wittington Investments Limited is a privately owned British holding company. It was incorporated in 1941 and is based in London, England. The company is 79.2% owned by the Garfield Weston Foundation, one of the United Kingdom's largest grant-ma ...

for €290 million *

''(Netherlands)'' — in 2010 sold to American investment company

* HEMA ''(Netherlands, Belgium and Germany)'' — in 2007 sold to the British investment group

Lion Capital LLP Lion Capital LLP is a British private equity firm specialising in investments in the consumer sector. Previous and current consumer brands owned by Lion have included Weetabix, Jimmy Choo, Wagamama, Kettle Foods and AllSaints. The firm is headq ...

Consumer electronics *Dixons ''(Netherlands)'' — sold to Dexcom in 2006 Jewellery and watches *Schaap & Citroen ''(Netherlands)'' - sold in 2009 Do-it-yourself * Formido ''(Netherlands)'' - closed 2020

References

External links