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MediaMarktSaturn boss moves to FC Barcelona

by alex

The retail group is facing a renovation

For the Spaniard Ferran Reverter, a childhood dream will come true: The manager will be the boss of FC Barcelona in his hometown and will not give a damn about extending his contract with the MediaMarktSaturn Group (which will expire in October).

On June 30th, Reverter is vacating his executive chair in Ingolstadt and moving back to his family in Catalonia. It is doubtful whether he will have much more time for his private life there – in addition to the renovation of the traditional club.

At any rate, after almost 20 years in the company, Ferran Reverter was almost part of the inventory of the German MediaMarktSaturn Group. He had been at the top of the group since 2018, where he pushed ahead with digitization and simplified the structures in purchasing and logistics. In other words: it has reduced costs, closed deficit markets, and started the cutback of 3,500 full-time positions. Most recently it was said that he also wanted to change his career. Upstairs, in the executive chair of the Ceconomy parent company, in which the Group's power will be bundled in the future. For MediaMarktSaturn, this does not mean that the group will now find itself in calmer waters. On the contrary. After years of quarrels among the owners, major renovations are now finally pending.

On the order of magnitude: MediaMarktSaturn is the largest electrical retail chain in Europe with more than 1,000 stores and more than 47,000 employees. The group has been represented in Austria since 1990, currently with 50 locations and almost 3,000 employees. But the golden days are over, also because online retailers are picking up an ever larger portion of the sales cake. Last October, the group said goodbye to the two-brand strategy and stamped out the Saturn brand.

There is also a streamlining of the structure at the very top of the group structure. In February, the general meeting of the Düsseldorf-based Ceconomy-Holding decided that MediaMarktSaturn would be taken over in its entirety. In return, the previous minority owner, the feudal Kellerhals family, is directly involved in Ceconomy and becomes the largest single shareholder with more than 25 percent. The transaction is intended to eliminate duplication between Ingolstadt and Düsseldorf.

Uncertain outlook

MediaMarkt and Saturn are currently suffering from the consequences of the Corona in spite of the booming online business. Numerous branches had to close temporarily. Due to the extension of the lockdown on the home market of Germany, where the group is represented with 420 locations, the group recently withdrew its outlook. In the previous year, the company had turned over almost 20.8 billion euros. The adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) should increase from 236 million in the previous year to 320 to 370 million euros according to the previous forecast. Simone hoepke

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