This will give Eurest, Compass Group’s business and industry foodservice specialist, exclusive responsibility for foodservice at the Industriepark Höchst which has over 40 companies on site including not only Hoechst but also Aventis, Messer, Solvay, Nutrinova and DyStar.
HSG is the Hoechst owned foodservice company which caters for over 20,000 staff and serves in excess of 1.1m meals a year at the site with an annual turnover of approximately DEM 40m (GBP13.5m). The acquisition further strengthens Compass Group’s position as the leader in foodservice management in Germany.
Compass Group continues to grow organically in Germany and today also announces that it has signed a 10 year contract with VFB Stuttgart, the latest (GBP27m) over the contract life. Compass Group currently caters at the football stadiums of 1.FC Koln and the ice hockey stadium of Mannheimer Adler and now is well placed to benefit from the World Cup to be hosted in Germany in 2006.
Michael J. Bailey, Chief Executive, Compass Group PLC, said:
The German foodservice market is unusual in that many major industrial companies continue to operate on a self-catering basis, often via wholly owned foodservice subsidiaries. Good organic growth including the VFB Stuttgart contract and other new business gains at the Microsoft Munich Headquarters, and the Mannesmann-Rexroth and Weber-Haus contracts announced in December 2000 together with this acquisition, continue to build our market-leading position in Germany. HSG Hoechst represents an excellent strategic move for Eurest and will be an important reference contract to show the cost savings, variety of food offers and quality of food to be gained by outsourcing to the Group.
The acquisition is subject to approval by the German anti-trust commission.
