Maxeda is a Dutch retail company owned by American investment firm

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts KKR & Co. Inc., also known as Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., is an American global private-equity and investment company. , the firm had completed private-equity investments in portfolio companies with approximately $710 billion of total ...

& Co. (KKR) which is currently a market leader in the DIY retailing in The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. When Maxeda acquired Vendex KBB (KBB = Koninklijke Bijenkorf Beheer), Maxeda owned the three most prominent Dutch department stores:

Vroom & Dreesmann Vroom & Dreesmann (V&D) was a Dutch chain of department stores founded in 1887. In 2015, V&D operated 67 branches throughout the Netherlands, of which 64 department stores and 3 standalone locations of La Place (restaurant chain), La Place, ...

and

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, owner also of Britain's Selfridges and Ireland's Bro ...

, both sold in 2010, and HEMA, sold in 2007.

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 Brico is a Belgian hardware store chain. The chain focuses mainly on DIY items but also sells garden-related articles. The chain has 140 locations (as of February 2016) spread over Belgium, about 95 of which are franchised. History The firs ...

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 Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...

of Vendex (previously its largest chain

) and Koninklijke Bijenkorf Beheer (KBB) (with

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 private equity, private-equity and investment company. , the firm had completed private-equity investments in portfolio companies with approximately $710 bil ...

(KKR), Change Capital Partners and

AlpInvest Partners AlpInvest Partners is a global private equity asset manager with over $85 billion of assets under management as of December 31, 2024. The firm invests on behalf of more than 500 institutional investors from North America, Asia, Europe, South Amer ...

(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 Euronext Amsterdam is a stock exchange based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Formerly known as the Amsterdam Stock Exchange (), it merged on 22 September 2000 with the Brussels Stock Exchange and the Paris Stock Exchange to form Euronext. The re ...

. 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. It is one of the oldest firms in the sector, with its origins dating back to Paribas Affaires Industrielles, historically the principal investment arm of Paribas, which started opera ...

. 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

''(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 Hunkemöller is a Dutch fast fashion retailer selling affordable lingerie and related products. Corporate information Hunkemöller identifies itself as a fast fashion company. It was founded in 1886 in Amsterdam as a speciality shop for corsets. ...

(Lingerie) ''(Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, France, Denmark,

Aruba Aruba, officially the Country of Aruba, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, in the southern Caribbean Sea north of the Venezuelan peninsula of Paraguaná Peninsula, Paraguaná and northwest of Curaçao. In 19 ...

Curaçao Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the southern Caribbean Sea (specifically the Dutch Caribbean region), about north of Venezuela. Curaçao includ ...

, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait)'' — in 2010 sold to

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

''(Netherlands)'' — in 2010 sold to

Wittington Investments Wittington Investments Limited is the name of two privately owned holding companies, one based in Britain, the other in Canada. Both companies are controlled by the Weston family. Through these holding companies, the Weston family control some o ...

for €290 million *

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

Variety stores A variety store (also five and dime (historic), pound shop, or dollar store) is a retail store that sells general merchandise, such as apparel, auto parts, dry goods, toys, household hardware, hardware, furniture, and a selection of groceries. ...

* 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 Ltd, Jimmy Choo, Wagamama, Kettle Foods and AllSaints. Th ...

Consumer electronics *

Dixons (Netherlands) Dixons is a Dutch chain of stores specialising in what it refers to as leisure time electronics. This means that Dixons does not sell products like washing machines or televisions but does provide things like digital cameras, PC's, MP3 players, ...

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

References

External links