GfK Group expands network
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New companies in Saudi Arabia and Kenya
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Complete acquisition of GfK Mode in India and GfK Kynetec in the UK
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Increased stake in Shopping Brasil
Nuremberg, July 8, 2010 – The GfK network is expanding. GfK has become the first foreign market research organization to establish an independent subsidiary in Saudi Arabia. The Retail and Technology sector has opened a new branch in Kenya. GfK has acquired the outstanding shares of the GfK Mode subsidiary in India and GfK Kynetec in the UK. And in Brazil, GfK’s subsidiary IFR has increased its stake in Shopping Brasil.
Effective from April 28, 2010, GfK has become the first foreign market research company to be granted a license by the authorities to open a subsidiary in Saudi Arabia. As a result of government regulations, even minority stakes in Saudi companies have only been possible to a limited extent for foreign investors up to now. GfK Middle East, which specializes in ad hoc research, therefore conducted Saudi Arabian surveys through local partners from its headquarters in Dubai. Seven employees at GfK Custom Research Saudi Arabia can now offer data on markets in Saudi Arabia from within the country. They also collect information about Yemen from the capital city, Riyadh.
In the largest market research market of the Middle East, where sales currently total around USD 30 million, GfK Custom Research Saudi Arabia conducts market research for international clients, including Procter & Gamble, Philip Morris, Tetra Pak, Goodyear and Danone, as well as companies based in the Middle East, such as Nuqul, a Jordanian manufacturer of fast moving consumer goods. Ranabir Sen is Managing Director of both GfK Custom Research Saudi Arabia and GfK Middle East in Dubai.
Further information: Ranabir Sen, Managing Director of GfK Custom Research Saudi Arabi, tel. +971 4 439-3499, ranabir.sen@gfk.com
Retail and Technology opens branch in Kenya
On June 1, 2010, GfK opened its first subsidiary in Kenya, based in Nairobi, with eight employees. The company is operating under the name GfK Retail and Technology East Africa and the Managing Directors are Gunter Redwitz and Herwig Rubin.
GfK has already been collecting data in Africa for ten years and in Eastern Africa for the past five years. It all started with a retail panel for mobile phone sales in a selection of Kenyan cities. GfK now also monitors televisions and cooling appliances and is planning to add laptops, printers and washing machines to the list next year. From its branch in Kenya, GfK also collects data from Uganda and Tanzania. Clients of GfK Retail and Technology East Africa include numerous leading providers in the sectors being monitored.
Further information: Herwig Rubin, Managing Director of GfK Retail and Technology East Africa, tel: +49 911 395-3188, herwig.rubin@gfk.com
Full acquisition of GfK Mode
GfK has acquired a further 49% of GfK Mode in India on May 6, 2010, bringing its share ownership to 100%. The company operates in the Custom Research sector and has 226 employees. Debi Basu will remain Managing Director.
The Mode Group was originally established in 1981, and after joining the GfK Group in 2006 it was renamed GfK Mode. It has branches in 15 Indian cities as well as an office in Bangladesh, and is particularly active in the areas of consumer and social research. GfK Mode’s most important clients include international companies Colgate Palmolive, McDonald’s, Hewlett Packard, Nestlé, L’Oréal, Coca-Cola and Suzuki.
In March, GfK Mode was awarded the lion’s share of a national health survey, which is conducted annually by the Indian government. The contract is set to run for a period of three years and involves an annual budget of EUR 2.4 million. The findings of the survey are intended to provide a foundation for the government to develop guidelines for future health programs. Through 615,000 face-to-face interviews in three Indian states, GfK Mode will investigate the health of women, pregnant women and young children in particular.
Further information: Debi Basu, Managing Director of GfK Mode, tel. +91 33 2289-0314, debi.basu@gfk.com
GfK Kynetec is 100% GfK subsidiary
As of June 21, 2010, GfK acquired the remaining 25% of shares in GfK Kynetec, which operates in the Custom Research sector in the fields of animal health, biotechnology and crop protection research. Important clients include agricultural and biotechnology corporations Syngenta, Bayer CropScience, Monsanto Company, Dow AgroSciences and the animal health divisions of pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer, Schering Plough and Novartis. Stephen Hearn is CEO of the company, which has 128 employees across 14 subsidiaries worldwide.
dmrkynetec was established in 2007 through a fusion of two market research companies, DoaneMR (USA) and Kynetec (UK). In 2008, GfK combined its two subsidiaries m2A in France and GfK Animal Health in the UK with the British group. The company has bases throughout Europe, the USA and Asia.
Further information: Stephen Hearn, CEO of GfK Kynetec, tel. +44 1488 649-130, stephen.hearn@dmrkynetec.com
Increased stake in Shopping Brasil
In Brazil, the GfK subsidiary IFR increased its stake in Shopping Brasil by 25% to 76% as of May 28, 2010. The company conducts surveys of retail prices and shelf monitoring of slow moving consumer goods. This type of market research involves monitoring a particular supermarket shelf, documenting all consumer retail activities. With its subsidiaries, the GfK Group is the number one market research company in Brazil.
Shopping Brasil was founded in 1999. Clients include Walmart, Whirlpool, Philips, Sony and Pao de Açucar, one of Brazil’s largest supermarket chains. The company is continuing to operate as Shopping Brasil-IFR, with Minoru Wakabayashi in charge as Managing Director.
Further information:
Minoru Wakabayashi, Managing Director of Shopping Brasil-IFR,
tel. +51 3341 9955, minoru@shoppingbrasil.com.br
The GfK Group
The GfK Group offers the fundamental knowledge that industry, retailers, services companies and the media need to make market decisions. It delivers a comprehensive range of information and consultancy services in the three business sectors Custom Research, Retail and Technology and Media. The No. 4 market research organization worldwide operates in more than 100 countries and employs over 10,000 staff. In 2009, the GfK Group’s sales amounted to EUR 1.16 billion. For further information, visit our website: www.gfk.com. Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/gfk_group.
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Nordwestring 101
90419 Nuremberg
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Tel. +49 911 395-2645
Fax +49 911 395-4041
public.relations@gfk.com
