Global Blue

Last updated
Global Blue
Company type Public Company
NYSE:  GB
Founded1980;44 years ago (1980)
FoundersAlf Näslund
Headquarters
Eysins
,
Switzerland
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Christian Lucas (Chairman), Jacques Stern (CEO)
ProductsVAT/GST refunds, dynamic currency conversion, POS and retail technologies, customer intelligence, marketing services and publications, training and education, consultancy
Number of employees
+2,100 (2023)
Website www.globalblue.com

Global Blue is a tourism shopping tax refund company headquartered in Nyon, Switzerland. The company is best known for tax-free shopping, [1] a VAT/GST refund product and also operates in dynamic currency conversion, marketing services, point-of-sale technology, retail staff education, and customer intelligence. It is the industry leader for providing tax refunds, with Planet as its closest competitor.

Contents

As of 2014, some 130 countries levy VAT/GST, [2] about 50 offer to refund VAT/GST to tourists for private exports.

History

Started in Sweden in 1980, tax-free shopping is about refunding the VAT/GST levied in normal stores on the high street to non-resident visitors who will privately export the goods purchased, according to the legislation in the European Union [3] and other countries; tax-free shopping is not to be confused with duty-free, which started in Ireland in 1947 and relates to specific stores (most often located in travel-related environments such as airports) that are exempt from the payment of certain local or national taxes and duties.

Founded as Sweden Tax Free Shopping, the company later became Europe Tax Free Shopping and then Global Refund in 1998. The company was bought out by its management in partnership with Apax Partners, which took a majority stake, and FEXCO for £118 million in 1999. [4] Global Refund moved headquarters from Kungsbacka, near Gothenburg in Sweden, to Nyon, in the Lake Geneva area, in 2001 for a more central position in Europe to manage its business then gone global but with a strong merchant customer base in European tourist destination countries.

In 2007, Apax sold the company to Equistone Partners Europe (at the time Barclays Private Equity), which valued the company at €360 million. [5] [6] Previously operating the two brands Tax Free Shopping and First Currency Choice, Global Refund completed its repositioning, product diversification and rebranding as Global Blue in 2010. [7]

Equistone Partners sold the business in May 2012, for 1 billion euros to the technology private equity firm Silver Lake, with Swiss private equity house Partners Group taking a minority stake. [8] [9] On 10 April 2014 Global Blue announced the appointment of David Baxby as chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors, taking over from Per Setterberg, who had run the company for 25 years. [10] Following David Baxby a new CEO, Jaques Stern, has been announced on 18 May 2015. [11]

In 2010 Global Blue and the Economist Intelligence Unit started to use the expression 'globe shopper' to identify the market segment of "people who consider shopping as a fundamental part of their travel experience". [12] Global Blue Intelligence's globe shopping data and publications are referenced by international and national media including the Financial Times, [13] The Wall Street Journal, [14] City A.M., [15] the Moodie Report, [16] China Confidential [17] and The Hurun Wealth Report. [18]

In 2010 the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore commissioned Global Blue to develop and operate Singapore's Electronic Tourist Refund Scheme. [19] In 2011 the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service selected Global Blue as the payment supplier for tax-free shopping in Australia. [20] In July 2013 Global Blue announced a joint venture with NTT DATA to offer tax-free shopping services in Japan. [21] Global Blue is also a certified supplier of the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA) Quality Service Certification programme. [22]

Operations

Global Blue employs around 2,100 people in 53 countries, and provides services to approximately 300,000 merchants (retailers, hotels, restaurants, etc.), and banks in these locations. [23]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economy of Jersey</span>

The economy of Jersey is a highly developed social market economy. It is largely driven by international financial services and legal services, which accounted for 39.5% of total GVA in 2019, a 4% increase on 2018. Jersey is considered to be an offshore financial centre. Jersey has the preconditions to be a microstate, but it is a self-governing Crown dependency of the UK. It is considered to be a corporate tax haven by many organisations.

The harmonized sales tax (HST) is a consumption tax in Canada. It is used in provinces where both the federal goods and services tax (GST) and the regional provincial sales tax (PST) have been combined into a single value-added tax.

An invoice, bill or tab is a commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer relating to a sale transaction and indicating the products, quantities, and agreed-upon prices for products or services the seller had provided the buyer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goods and services tax (Australia)</span> Type of value added tax used in Australia

Goods and Services Tax (GST) in Australia is a value added tax of 10% on most goods and services sales, with some exemptions and concessions. GST is levied on most transactions in the production process, but is in many cases refunded to all parties in the chain of production other than the final consumer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duty-free shop</span> Type of retail outlet

A duty-free shop or store is a retail outlet whose goods are exempt from the payment of certain local or national taxes and duties, on the requirement that the goods sold will be sold to travelers who will take them out of the country, who will then pay duties and taxes in their destination country. Which products can be sold duty-free vary by jurisdiction, as well as how they can be sold, and the process of calculating the duty or refunding the duty component.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apax Partners</span> British private equity firm

Apax Partners LLP is a British private equity firm, headquartered in London, England. The company also operates out of six other offices in New York, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Tel Aviv, Munich and Shanghai. As of March 2024, the firm had raised and advised funds of approximately $77 billion (USD). Apax Partners is one of the oldest and largest private equity firms operating on an international basis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alliance Boots</span> Pharmaceutical company

Alliance Boots was a multinational pharmacy-led health and beauty group with corporate headquarters in Bern, Switzerland and operational headquarters in Nottingham and Weybridge, United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tax-free shopping</span>

Tax-free shopping (TFS) is the buying of goods in another country or state and obtaining a refund of the sales tax which has been collected by the retailer on those goods. The sales tax may be variously described as a sales tax, goods and services tax (GST), value added tax (VAT), or consumption tax.

New Look is a British global fashion retailer with a chain of high street shops. It was founded in 1969. The chain sells womenswear, menswear, and clothing for teens. New Look was owned by private equity groups Apax Partners and Permira, and founder Tom Singh, until May 2015 when it was acquired by Brait SE (SA) for £780 million.

GlobalLogic is an Indian digital services company providing software product design and development services. It is an independent subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd. GlobalLogic has corporate headquarters in San Jose, California.

Epicor Software Corporation is a business software company based in Austin, Texas founded in 1972. Its products are aimed at the manufacturing, distribution, retail and services industries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Union value added tax</span> EU-wide goods and services tax policy

The European Union value-added tax is a value added tax on goods and services within the European Union (EU). The EU's institutions do not collect the tax, but EU member states are each required to adopt in national legislation a value added tax that complies with the EU VAT code. Different rates of VAT apply in different EU member states, ranging from 17% in Luxembourg to 27% in Hungary. The total VAT collected by member states is used as part of the calculation to determine what each state contributes to the EU's budget.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhône Group</span> Private equity firm

Rhône Group is a global private equity firm with approximately $11 billion of assets under management, specializing in mergers and acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, recapitalizations, and partnerships with particular focus on European and trans-Atlantic investments. Rhône also offers financial advisory services, strategic alliances, joint partnerships, and business valuation services. Rhone Group was listed in 2013 to 2014 by Preqin as the 'Most Consistent Performing Private Equity Fund Manager' based on both its multiple and IRR of all 3 funds in the top quartile ranking.

Ole Smoky Tennessee Moonshine is a corn whiskey distillery in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Their downtown Gatlinburg, Tennessee facility features two working copper stills. Visitors are able to see the distilling process up close while learning about the history of moonshine production in the Smoky Mountains. $5 samples are offered. A second distillery, dubbed The Barn, opened in fall 2014 in Pigeon Forge. Ole Smoky opened a new facility called Mashville next to Yazoo Brewing Company in the heart of Nashville in the spring of 2019. From 2020 to 2022, the Ole Smoky Distillery was the most visited distillery in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vista Equity Partners</span> American investment firm

Vista Equity Partners is an American private equity firm that invests in software, data, and technology-enabled businesses. With over $100 billion in assets under management (AUM), it is one of the largest private equity firms in the world. Vista Equity Partners has invested in hundreds of technology companies, including Citrix, SentinelOne, and Marketo, and has achieved many accolades in the space, most recently being named as 2023's Global Technology Private Equity Firm of the Year by Private Equity International.

Planet, is a financial services company, specialised in multicurrency payments, credit card processing, Hospitality and Retail Software and the management of VAT refunds (Tax-Free) for tourists. Planet provide their services to overseas visitors, international retail groups, hotels and banks around the world. It is one of largest tax refund providers globally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Value-added tax</span> Form of consumption tax

A value-added tax (VAT or goods and services tax (GST), general consumption tax (GCT)), is a consumption tax that is levied on the value added at each stage of a product's production and distribution. VAT is similar to, and is often compared with, a sales tax. VAT is an indirect tax because the consumer who ultimately bears the burden of the tax is not the entity that pays it. Specific goods and services are typically exempted in various jurisdictions.

Apax Global Alpha is a large British investment trust focused on private equity investments. Established in 2015, the company is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index, an index of the larger companies on the London Stock Exchange.

References

  1. ↑ "Silver Lake in €1bn Global Blue deal". Financial Times. May 24, 2012. Archived from the original on December 16, 2017. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Tax rates". Archived from the original on August 25, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Travellers leaving the EU VAT export refund scheme". European Commission. Archived from the original on June 11, 2014. Retrieved June 9, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Fexco and Apax join forces in takeover of Global Refund". The Irish Times. August 25, 1999.
  5. ↑ "Barclays backs Global Refund MBO". Growth Business UK. October 12, 2007. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
  6. ↑ "Apax Partners sells Global Refund to Barclays Private Equity". August 7, 2007. Archived from the original on December 16, 2017. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  7. ↑ "Transform Awards 2012 Announce Winners". Real Wire. March 27, 2012. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
  8. ↑ "Silver Lake to Buy Equistone's Global Blue for $1.3 Billion". Bloomberg. May 25, 2012. Archived from the original on 2014-02-22. Retrieved 2017-03-07.
  9. ↑ Waters, Richard (2012-05-24). "Silver Lake in €1bn Global Blue deal". FT.com. Archived from the original on 2017-12-16. Retrieved 2014-06-09.
  10. ↑ "Global Blue, Leading Provider of Traveler Commerce Technology Solutions, Names David Baxby as CEO". April 10, 2014. Archived from the original on April 13, 2014. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Global Blue Announces Jacques Stern as Chief Executive Officer". May 18, 2015. Archived from the original on July 22, 2015. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
  12. ↑ HKTOct 26, 2012 (2012-10-26). "Hong Kong Tops Asia's Shopping Destinations - Scene Asia - WSJ". Blogs.wsj.com. Archived from the original on 2014-10-01. Retrieved 2014-06-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. ↑ "Simplify visas for Chinese, urge UK retailers". Financial Times. 30 January 2011. Archived from the original on 2 February 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2011.
  14. ↑ Masidlover, Nadya (2013-07-24). "Chinese Shopping-Tour Buses Go Out of Fashion in Paris - WSJ". Online.wsj.com. Archived from the original on 2015-05-29. Retrieved 2014-06-09.
  15. ↑ "Chinese luxury spenders keep UK tills ringing". City A.M. April 30, 2012. Archived from the original on June 30, 2012. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
  16. ↑ "Chinese dominate tourism spending in 2012, reports Global Blue". TheMoodieReport.com. Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2014-06-09.
  17. ↑ "Chinese shoppers go on overseas spending spree". China Confidential. 18 November 2010. Archived from the original on 10 April 2011. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  18. ↑ "The Hurun Report". Archived from the original on 2011-06-30. Retrieved 2011-07-08.
  19. ↑ "Tourists can look forward to hassle-free GST refunds". SG Press Centre. December 1, 2010. Archived from the original on October 6, 2011. Retrieved July 8, 2011.
  20. ↑ "Global Blue named exclusive payment supplier for tax free shopping". Global Blue. March 21, 2011. Archived from the original on July 12, 2011. Retrieved July 8, 2011.
  21. ↑ Global Blue July 10, 2013 4:30 AM (2013-07-10). "Global Blue and NTT DATA form Joint Venture to Offer Tax Refund Services in Japan - Yahoo Finance". Finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2014-06-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  22. ↑ http://www.qualitytourism.cn/ Archived 2011-09-05 at the Wayback Machine China Outbound Tourism Quality Service Certification
  23. ↑ "Global Blue releases the Globe Shopper Report: China Edition | Business - Global Blue". corporate.globalblue.com. Archived from the original on 2016-10-25. Retrieved 2016-10-26.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.