History
Beter Bed was founded in 1981 in Uden by the brothers Mark and Pieter Diks. They raised capital from their father, Jan Diks, co-owner of Dico, managed to secure a modest bank loan and opened their first store in Uden. [6] Shortly afterwards, three stores, specialising in bedroom furniture, had been opened. At that time stores specialising in bedroom furniture and accompanying products were a new and unfamiliar phenomenon in the Netherlands since this market segment was dominated by large department stores and specialists concentrating on general interiors. The concept of providing high-quality goods and a wide range of products at a low price proved to be successful and was a blueprint for all future activities of Beter Bed. During the second half of the 1980s the company began to grow. [7]
In 1986 Bedden en Bedden B.V., a factory for the production of MDF panels, was established in Uden. [8] In the 1990s two more production facilities were added to the company by acquiring two factories in Poland, Ecowood (1994) and Interwood (1996). [9]
The flotation of Beter Bed Holding N.V. took place in December 1996. Shares of Beter Bed Holding N.V. are traded at the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. In the same year another company was added to the holding by the acquisition of Dormaël, a company that operates in the higher segment of the bedroom furniture market. [10] The following year Beter Baby was founded, with the goal to gain market shares in the trade with bedroom furniture for babies and small children. At the same time Beter Bed N.V. acquired DFC Comfort ensuring the sole right of representation for orthopaedic mattresses and pillows by this company within the Benelux. [7]
In order to comply with the planned expansion and the resulting requirements the company moved to a new location in January 1997, consisting of a larger administrative building and a distribution centre with a surface of 16,000 m2, after construction time of one year. [11]
In the second half of the 1990s the subsidiary Bedden Dump was founded to sell items taken from the Beter Bed range via temporary stores. It was decided in 2002 to expand this format into a discount chain for bedroom furniture according to a cash and carry concept, targeting the lower market segment. [12] In 2005 this company was renamed BeddenReus. [13]
In 1998 the company expanded into Germany by opening the first two stores in Essen and Dortmund. Also in 1998 Beter Bed N.V. acquired the German company Matratzen Concord, whose headquarters is in Cologne. [14]
At the same time Matratzen Concord began its expansion into Austria and Switzerland (1998), as well as the Netherlands (1999), France and Italy (2000). [15] Also in 1998, Mark and Pieter Diks, the holding's founding brothers, sold a large amount of their shares in the company, reducing their commitment to 18%. [16]
The holding's structure began to change in 1999. One of the founding brothers, Pieter Diks, sold his remaining shares and retired from the management. Mark Diks again reduced his share in the company in May 2000 but remained in the management team for the time being. [17] Also in 2000 the production facility Bedden en Bedden was sold off [16] and the subsidiary Dormaël was converted into a franchising format. Following a management buyout Beter Baby was sold off. In August 2000, it was announced that the Blokker family had acquired 15% of Beter Bed's shares. [16]
Mark Diks resigned as CEO and became a member of the supervisory board of the holding in January 2001. At the same time Frans Geelen became new CEO, [16] having joined Beter Bed in August 2000 and after having served as a member of the board of directors of C&A Europe since 1996. [18]
In 2001 all activities of the subsidiary DFC Comfort were discontinued and a new company DBC International was founded. DBC International is active in the development, marketing and selling of mattresses developed under its own direction. [19]
At the end of 2001 Beter Bed N.V. had a total of 555 stores. [19]
In the first half of 2002 investment fund NeSBIC attempted to take over Beter Bed N.V. [20] by offering €16 for every share sold to it. [21] [22] In view of the inadequate offer and simultaneous insecurity with regards to the financial backing, [23] the project ultimately failed. [24] At the same time the remaining founder, Mark Diks, sold his remaining shares [25] and subsequently withdrew from the supervisory board. [26]
Matratzen Concord closed all its stores in Italy and France in 2003 due to disappointing sales figures and the lack of short-term prospects. [27]
Beter Bed's strategy changed during this period, returning to its core activities, the trading and selling of bedroom furniture and accessories and turning away from producing its own goods. As a consequence, in May 2005 the last remaining factory in Poland, Interwood, was sold, the second factory in Poland, Ecowood, had already been closed down in 2004. [28] By the end of 2004 some but not all of the Dormaël stores had gone into receivership, [29] Consequently, in June 2005 the first Slaagenoten stores, a company created by merging most of the remaining vending points of Dormaël, founded in 2000 as a franchise retail format, were opened. [28] However, some of these continued to operate under the name of Dormaël. In September of the same year the Spanish chain El Gigante del Colchón was acquired by Beter Bed N.V. At the time El Gigante del Colchón had 20 stores in the region of Barcelona. [30] At the end of 2008 the company had grown to 47 stores, [31] covering the whole of Catalonia, and expanded into the region of Madrid. [31]
In December 2005 all activities of the subsidiary Beter Bed Deutschland were terminated. The locations were integrated into Matratzen Concord. [28]
In October 2006 a second strategy for selling mattresses in Germany was introduced with the founding of the new subsidiary MAV Matratzen-Abverkauf. Two stores were opened in 2006. At the end of 2008 the company had grown to 30 stores. [31] The activities of MAV Matratzen-Abverkauf were concentrated in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia while, at the same time, attempting to expand southwards into Baden-Württemberg. [32]
In September 2007, the first stores of Matratzen Concord were opened in Belgium. [33] By the end of June 2009 the number of stores there has grown to five [34] with the intention to open more in the future.
In the second half of 2008 the first Matratzen Concord store was opened in the Polish capital of Warsaw under the name of Materace Concord. By January 2010 the number of shops of Materace Concord had risen to three. [35]
On 14 April 2009, CEO Frans Geelen announced his intention to resign from the office as chairman of the board of directors by April 2010 the latest. [36] On 9 October 2009, it was revealed that Ton Anbeek, at the time CEO at Koninklijke Auping bv, would succeed Frans Geelen as of 1 March 2010, [37] the appointment being ratified during an extraordinary general meeting of the shareholders of Beter Bed on 5 November 2009. [38]
On 23 April 2009, it was announced that CFO Ric van der Woude had accepted a position as CFO at Zeeman Groep. [39] On 1 September 2009 his responsibilities were taken over by Duncan van Hoeve as non-statutory Finance Director. [40]
In February 2011, it was reported that Beter Bed B.V. and Dutch mail order company Wehkamp had entered into a strategic partnership with the aim of Beter Bed's core range of products also to be sold through Wehkamp's website. [41]
With the opening of the first Beter Bed store in Olen, Belgium on 29 September 2011, Beter Bed B.V. began to expand into the Belgian market. [42]
During the course of 2012, Matratzen Concord terminated all activities of its Polish subsidiary Materace Concord and closed all stores, the number of which had risen to four. The German company MAV Matratzen-Abverkauf also closed its 15 stores in that year. A new retail format, Schlafberater.com, was established in Germany, counting four stores by the end of 2012. [43] By the end of 2013, the four German stores had all closed with one store having been opened in Switzerland. [44] The Swiss store closed during the course of 2014. [45]
On 19 December 2012 it was announced that CFO Duncan van Hoeve would be leaving the company at the end of March 2013. On 1 April 2013 he was succeeded by Bart Koops. [46]
In January 2014 plans were revealed to close all stores of the subsidiary Slaapgenoten during the course of 2014. Furthermore, all Matrassen Concord activities in the Netherlands and Belgium also terminated during the same period. [47]
In 2014 Beter Bed entered the French market when it started a pilot under the name Literie Concorde. At the end of 2015 this retail format operated two stores. The operations in France were to be expanded with the opening of another five to ten stores within the next years. [48]
In September 2015 it was disclosed that Beter Bed was to acquire the Austrian retailer BettenMax with the intention of turning the existing BettenMax stores into stores of Matratzen Concord. This increased the number of Matratzen Concord stores in Austria to 86, making Matratzen Concord market leader in that country. [49] The acquisition was finalised on 22 October 2015.
On 3 June 2016 Beter Bed announced its take-over of Swedish retailer Sängjätten. Sängjätten owns 16 stores and has nine franchise partners. [50] On 20 June the acquisition was completed. [51]
After seven years as CEO of Beter Bed Holding Ton Anbeek left the company on 1 November 2017 to become CEO of Accell Group. [52]
During 2017 all activities of the French subsidiary Literie Concorde were terminated. [53]
On 16 January 2018 it was reported that John Kruijssen will become the new CEO of Beter Bed Holding as of 1 April 2018. [54]
CFO Bart Koops announced on 1 May 2018 that he would be resigning from his post as of 1 August 2018, [55] and on 27 July 2018 it was reported that Hugo van den Ochtend would become his successor as of 1 September 2018. [56]
On 28 September 2018 it was reported that Beter Bed had completed the sale of their Spanish subsidiary El Gigante del Colchón to Spanish competitor Evolución del Descanso with effect of 1 November 2018. [57]
On 17 October 2018 Beter Bed disclosed that subsidiary Matratzen Concord, active in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, would close 178 of its stores as part of a restructuring and re-organisation programme. The closures were implemented during the remaining months of 2018. [58] However, as a result of the unexpectedly slow recovery of Matratzen Concord and the ensuing financial obligations Beter Bed decided on 25 June 2019 to sell Matrazen Concord, either partially or fully. [59] On 14 October 2019 Beter Bed announced that Hong Kong based [60] private equity company Magical Honour Limited Limited intended to buy the whole of Matratzen Concord for the sum of 5 million euros. At the same time Magical Honour Limited would invest in Beter Bed by acquiring 2.15 million of Beter Bed shares valuing 5 million euros. The transaction was to be completed by the end of 2019 the latest. [61] During an extraordinary general meeting held on 26 November 2019 the shareholders approved the transaction. [62] On 3 December 2019 Magical Honour Limited became the largest single shareholder of Beter Bed N.V.
Beter Bed's CFO Hugo van Ochtend was released of his duties on 12 December 2019. He was replaced by Gabrielle Reijnen at the time being a member of the holding's supervisory board. She resigned her position on the board with immediate effect. [63]
On 9 July 2021 it was revealed that Beter Bed had sold all parts of its Swedish operations to Danish retailer Sengespecialisten, part of Lars Larsen Group and also owner of retailer Jysk, with effect of 30 June 2021. [64]
Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. is an American chain of domestic merchandise retail stores. The chain operates many stores in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico.
Koninklijke Ahold N.V. was a Dutch multinational retail company based in Zaandam, Netherlands. It merged with Belgium-based Delhaize Group in 2016 to form Ahold Delhaize.
Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited is a financial holding company based in Toronto, Ontario, which is engaged in property, casualty, insurance and reinsurance, investment management, and insurance claims management. The company operates primarily through several subsidiaries, including Allied World, Odyssey Re, Northbridge Financial, Crum & Forster, Verassure Insurance, Onlia Agency Inc., and Zenith Insurance Company. The company was also the largest shareholder of Torstar with 40% of the Class B shares, as of May 2020.
Tapestry, Inc. is an American multinational luxury fashion holding company. It is based in New York City and is the parent company of three major brands: Coach New York, Kate Spade New York and Stuart Weitzman. Originally named Coach, Inc., the business changed its name to Tapestry on October 31, 2017.
Vodafone Libertel B.V. is the second largest mobile phone company in the Netherlands, and was previously called Libertel. It is part of VodafoneZiggo, a joint venture between Liberty Global and Vodafone.
Stater Bros. Markets is a privately held supermarket chain, based in San Bernardino, California, consisting of 171 stores located throughout Southern California. It was founded in Yucaipa, California, on August 17, 1936, by twin brothers Cleo and Leo Stater when they purchased the market owned by Cleo's boss, W. A. Davis, with a $600 down payment. Cleo recalled to the Inland Empire Business Press in 1998, that the owner of the market across the street from Davis's gave him the other $300 to make the full down payment. Stater Bros. went public in 1964; Cleo, Leo, and their brother Lavoy sold their interests to the now-defunct Long Beach–based Petrolane Gas Service in 1968. The chain has been owned fully by Stater Bros. Holdings, a subsidiary of La Cadena Investments, owned by Stater's late chairman, president and CEO, Jack H. Brown, since 1986.
Praktiker AG was a German hardware store chain which operated in Europe. It was based in Hamburg and opened its first store in 1978 in Luxembourg under the name bâtiself. Initially owned by ASKO, the chain became a division of Metro AG after the merger of ASKO with Metro Cash & Carry in 1995. It was spun off under the name Praktiker Holding in November 2005 and listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Since 2006 until 2011 was listed on MDAX and since 2011 until 2013 on SDAX.
Mediahuis is a newspaper & magazine publishing, distribution, printing, TV, radio and online media company founded in 2014 with assets in Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland and Luxembourg. Mediahuis publishes daily newspaper titles in Belgium, the Netherlands and Ireland as well as regional titles, and is involved in broadcasting a number of Dutch and French language TV and radio stations.
Ecotone is a multinational food company with a focus on organic, founded in the Netherlands and headquartered in France since November 2020. It has operations in Europe and North America. Worldwide it had approx 2,000 employees at the end of 2011, a year in which it reported a revenue of €706 million. The company is owned by PAI Partners (62%) and Charles Jobson (38%), shares for the company were delisted.
The Children's Place Inc. is a specialty retailer of children’s apparel and accessories headquartered in New Jersey. It also markets apparel under the Children's Place, Place, Baby Place, and Gymboree brand names.
Atradius provides trade credit insurance, surety and collections services worldwide through a presence in more than 50 countries around the globe. It is the credit insurance arm of Grupo Catalana Occidente (GCO.MC). Credit insurance, bonding and collections products help protect companies throughout the world from payment risks associated with selling products and services on trade credit. In 2021 the company had revenues of EUR 2.1 billion. The company is rated ‘A (excellent) outlook stable’ by AM Best and ' A2 outlook stable’ by Moody's.
AmTrust Financial Services, Inc., is a New York City-based multinational property and casualty insurance company, offering workers’ compensation, general liability, business owners policies (BOP), cyber liability, EPLI and more. Operating through its subsidiaries, its operations are divided into three segments: Small Commercial Business insurance, Specialty Risk and Extended Warranty insurance, and Specialty Middle-Market Property and Casualty insurance. The company's main regions of operations are North America, United Kingdom, and mainland Europe. AmTrust is rated “A-” (Excellent) by AM Best Company. Barry Zyskind is the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer.
Concord New Energy Group Limited is an investment holding company and is listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange with its Hong Kong headquarters at Admiralty, Hong Kong. The company had a management office in Beijing. The Company and its subsidiaries are engaged in engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), operation and maintenance of wind power plants, the manufacture of wind power equipment and other wind power related business. The listed company and its predecessor, had a few former names: Nam Pei Hong (Holding) Limited, Nam Pei Hong International Holdings Limited, N P H International Holdings Limited, Hong Kong Pharmaceutical Holdings Limited and most recently China Windpower Group Limited.
Sears Holdings Corporation was an American holding company headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. It was the parent company of the chain stores Kmart and Sears and was founded after the former purchased the latter in 2005. It was the 20th-largest retailing company in the United States in 2015. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on October 15, 2018, and sold its assets to ESL Investments in 2019. The new owner moved Sears assets to its newly formed subsidiary Transform Holdco LLC and after that, Sears Holdings Corporation was closed.
Robert A. Schriesheim is an American business executive. According to a published interview with FTI Consulting in November 2021 he has served as a board director of 11 public companies, including as board chairman, and as a CFO of 4 public companies with revenues from approximately $1 billion to over $40 billion. He is chairman of Truax Partners LLC and has partnered with institutional investors leading large enterprises through complex transformations serving in various executive leadership and board roles. According to a 2016 Wall Street Journal article, he has a "history of working in partnership with private equity firms, hedge funds and institutional investors in special situation circumstances". According to Barron's and CFO magazine, Schriesheim has "spent most of his career at the high end of the strategy spectrum, embroiled in complex restructurings" focused on capital allocation.
bet-at-home.com AG is a European online gambling and sports betting company that was founded in 1999.
Canopy Growth Corporation, formerly Tweed Marijuana Inc., is a cannabis company based in Smiths Falls, Ontario.
NN Investment Partners is a Netherlands-based asset manager, with headquarters in The Hague and offices in 15 countries in Europe, Asia and the Americas. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of NN Group, the biggest Dutch life insurer. NN IP is an active manager for institutional and wholesale investors around the world. It manages €287 billion in assets for clients, integrating Environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) criteria throughout the investment process for the majority of its strategies. NN IP is globally ranked as the 87th biggest asset management firm and the third biggest Dutch asset manager. NN IP offers its services to pension funds, insurers, family offices, independent financial advisers, banks and private individuals; in addition to managing the assets of the NN Group. On the 19th of August 2021 NN announced an agreement to sell its asset manager NN Investment Partners to Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.
SM Retail Inc. is a private retail holding company based in Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines. It is a subsidiary of the conglomerate SM Investments Corporation. SM Retail has been a member of the International Association of department stores since 2009.
VodafoneZiggo Group Holding B.V. is a Dutch joint venture between Vodafone Plc and Ziggo B.V., announced in February 2016, approved by the European Commission in August 2016 and completed in December 2016.
€185.805 million (2019) [1] 
€21.244 million (2019) [1] 
