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HealthCity acquires Fitness First Benelux
| 03-11-2010Fitness group HealthCity International has signed an agreement proposing to acquire the shares of the Benelux companies of Fitness First Limited. This amounts to a takeover by HealthCity of the Fitness First clubs and their employees in these three countries.
Fitness First Limited trades under the names of Passage Fitness First in Belgium and Luxembourg, Fitness First in the Netherlands and Just Fit in Belgium, and has 57 clubs. Fitness First is selling its Benelux operation because the company wants to focus on the fast-developing countries, mainly in Asia.
The takeover brings the number of clubs operated by HealthCity International to more than 200 and the chain will become the clear market leader in the Benelux countries. HealthCity was already the market leader in the Netherlands, and recently in Belgium as well after its acquisition of the 11 centres of Sportopolis three years ago and the addition of new clubs since then, but HealthCity had no clubs in Luxembourg yet.
The acquisition is still not fully arranged, but is expected to be completed with two to four weeks. The acquisition will be officially completed and all the Fitness First clubs will come under HealthCity by December at the latest. No announcement was made as to whether the acquisition would have consequences for the employees.
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(Düsseldorf, 18.10.2010). In collaboration with the management team of the Düsseldorf-based company Ranger Marketing & Vertriebs GmbH (Ranger), Waterland Private Equity
(Waterland) is planning to implement a buy & build strategy in the personal direct marketing segment in the future, in order to further extend Ranger's market-leading position in Europe on the basis of organised growth and acquisitions.
Acting on behalf of companies such as Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone and RWE, Ranger markets products and tariffs directly to end-user customers. As a result of this transaction, Waterland will acquire a majority holding in the Ranger Group. Along with the management team, the founders of the company, John Keller and Frank Rittmann, will retain a significant share in the Group.
The demand for personal direct marketing is on the increase, especially in the telecommunications, cable and energy sectors. Product suppliers are anticipating that this marketing channel will continue to gain in importance. The factors driving this trend forward are the ever-increasing complexity of the products and tariffs on offer, fiercer competition between providers, and the deregulation of these markets in Europe. Ranger is the only provider with the necessary size, professionalism and infrastructure required to service these blue-chip clients. With over 18 years of international experience in personal direct marketing, Ranger is one of the world's leading companies in this sector.
Ranger is currently active in Germany, France, Switzerland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. With continued organic growth and the acquisition of companies, Ranger should now be able to further reinforce its outstanding position in these countries and in other European countries as well. In this connection, the continued extension of the core business, with personal 'at home' customer advice and within the context of shop-in-shop systems, remains a central aspect. However, the aim of expanding into adjacent areas of business is a further component of the expansion strategy.
In addition to its outsourcing activities, Waterland has specialised in investments in the fields of leisure and luxury, the ageing population and sustainability, among others. With its participation in Ranger, Waterland is now embarking on a series of investments in Germany. In recent years, funds advised by Waterland have acquired majority holdings in leading river-cruise provider A-Rosa and in Golf Range, the leading German operator of golf complexes, for example.
Jörg Dreisow, CEO of Waterland in Germany, states: "Ranger is a genuine 'hidden champion' and has for many years been the market-leading partner for major international companies in the field of direct marketing. We are now helping its management to continue this success story with the inclusion of other countries and related areas of business".
Both the management and the founder company members will be retaining their significant participations in the new Group, and will continue to fulfil the sole operational management role. "This collaboration with Waterland is offering the Ranger Group a marvellous opportunity for further growth," explains John Keller. "We could consider nothing but a partner with a far-sighted strategic approach. We are ready, we are motivated - and we make this promise to our team: Ranger will remain Ranger, with all of its existing opportunities and outstanding quality of marketing."
About Ranger
Ranger is one of Europe's leading companies in the field of personal direct marketing. 30 product partners in the telecommunications, cable TV, trading, financial and energy sectors entrust parts of their marketing operations to Ranger. Ranger approaches both private and business customers within the context of shop-in-shop systems, promotions, consultancy meetings and, of course, direct marketing. Ranger is active at some 150 locations in Europe, with over 2500 consultants, and acquires more than 100,000 customers orders a month. | www.ranger.deAbout Waterland Private Equity Investments
Waterland Private Equity operates as an independent private equity company in Germany (Düsseldorf), the Netherlands (Bussum) and Belgium (Antwerp). The company manages funds in the region of 1.4 billion euro, investing specifically in fragmented growth markets and supporting companies in the implementation of consolidation strategies. The focus is on service companies currently undergoing some degree of upheaval due to one or a number of the following trends: outsourcing and efficiency, the ageing population, leisure and luxury, and sustainability. | www.waterland.de -
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Antwerp/Kortemark, 27 August 2010 - The venture capital company Waterland Private Equity Investments (Waterland) will provide growth capital to the Waeyaert-Vermeersch Isolatie group, a Belgian distributor of insulation materials.
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BioMCN opens largest 2nd generation biofuel plant
| 24-06-2010Today the Queen's Commissioner of the Province of Groningen, Sir Max van den Berg, together with Rob Voncken, CEO of BioMCN, has officially opened the largest second generation biofuel plant in the world. With a production capacity of 250 million liters, BioMCN can immediately fulfill the entire Dutch biofuel obligation - a minimum of 4% blended into gasoline.
Bio-methanol is produced through an innovative process, patented by BioMCN, and is made from crude glycerin, a sustainable biomass which is a residue from industry processing vegetable oils and animal fats. The product is a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels.
In recent years, the sustainable nature of traditional first generation biofuels has come under pressure due to the alleged adverse effects such as deforestation and 'food versus fuel' implications. The emphasis in the political and public debate has shifted towards better and more sustainable biofuels - also referred to as second generation biofuels - which are not or significantly less subject to these negative effects. In comparison to regular methanol, bio-methanol reduces CO2 emissions by 78%. Therefore, bio-methanol is highly suitable to play an important and lasting role in the transition toward sustainable transportation fuels with low CO2 emissions. This is possible through the use of bio-methanol as a feedstock for other fuels or fuel additives such as MTBE, DME or hydrogen, as well as a fuel in its own right (e.g. M85).
Besides the sustainable character of bio-methanol, the concept of sustainability plays an important role in the philosophy behind the construction of the plant where the product is made. Instead of constructing a whole new plant, BioMCN took over the existing methanol installation on the chemical industrial area in Delfzijl. The former plant was built in the 1970's and has produced methanol out of natural gas for decades. When the plant closed its doors in 2005, a few visionary entrepreneurs saw their opportunity and decided to revitalize the plant. The result is BioMCN: a scalable plant with an equally sustainable and innovative product.
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Overname Basic-Fit door HealthCity International
| 17-06-2010HealthCity International en Basic-Fit maken bekend dat zij tot een definitieve overeenkomst zijn gekomen voor de overname van alle 32 Basic-Fit vestigingen 31 in Nederland en 1 in Belgie. Hierdoor wordt de leiderschapspositie van HealthCity International binnen de fitnessbranche aanzienlijk versterkt.
Basic-Fit is een landelijk opererende fitnessketen. Oprichters Frank Dijkman, Ton Schouten en Dirk Breve hebben in korte tijd een sterke marktpositie binnen het budgetsegment van de fitnessbranche weten te bereiken. Met de sterke combinatie van de meest actuele en kwalitatief hoogwaardige apparatuur tegen een gegarandeerd laag geprijsd lidmaatschap per maand, biedt Basic-Fit een uniek fitnessconcept aan in Nederland.
De keuze voor een sterke speler als Basic-Fit is zeer logisch, zeker in een concurrentie gevoelige markt als die van Nederland. Met de overname van Basic-Fit versterkt HealthCity International haar concurrentiepositie in de markt voor budgetfitness in Nederland. Tevens sluit deze overname uitstekend aan op de ambitie van HealthCity International om in iedere middelgrote tot grote stad een vestiging te hebben.
Met deze overname zet HealthCity International een duidelijke koers in. Rene Moos, CEO van HealthCity International, verwoordt het als volgt: "Met deze overname willen wij ons duidelijker en krachtiger positioneren in de fitnessbranche. Enerzijds bedienen we het luxere segment met ons HealthCity All Inclusive concept, anderzijds zullen we door toevoeging van de Basic-Fit vestigingen het budget segment van de markt verder gaan claimen. Onder deze twee merknamen zal onze leiderschapspositie in Nederland en België verder groeien."
Door deze transactie zal het HealthCity International team inclusief Basic-Fit uitbreiden tot 2.940 gemotiveerde en gepassioneerde medewerkers die elke dag onze leden inspireren tot het naleven van een langdurige en actieve levensstijl! -
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Two golds for A-ROSA River Cruise
| 15-03-2010Im Rahmen des zum zweiten Mal verliehenen Kreuzfahrt Guide Awards auf der diesjährigen Internationalen Tourismusbörse ITB Berlin, konnte die Rostocker Reederei gleich doppelt überzeugen.
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Expansion bei der A-ROSA Flussschiff GmbH
| 15-03-2010Rostocker Reederei gibt drittes Rhein-Schiff in Auftrag / Indienststellung der A-ROSA BRAVA im Frühjahr 2011
Die Zeichen stehen auf Wachstum: Nach dem sehr erfolgreichen Markteintritt auf Rhein/Mosel/Main im August 2009 sowie der positiven Geschäftsentwicklung der letzten Jahre, expandiert die A-ROSA Flussschiff GmbH weiter und gibt, vorbehaltlich finaler, in Kürze erwarteter Finanzierungsbestätigung, einen dritten Premium-Flusskreuzer für ihr jüngstes und drittes Fahrtgebiet in Auftrag.
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Waterland is nominated again for the Dow Jones Award: 'Best Benelux Private Equity Firm of the Year 2010'.
The awards will be presented in London, on Wednesday 14th April. - « Previous 1 2 3 4 Next »