Grupo Éxito

Grupo Éxito also known as Almacenes Éxito S.A. is a South American retail company. It operates 2,606 stores in South America. The stores sell a wide range of food and non food products.[2][3] Though originally a textiles maker and seller (under such brand names as Arkitect, People, Bronzini, Pop Rose) recent acquisitions (mostly within the last 10–20 years) have further diversified the business making it a major grocer (under brand names like surtimax and carulla sales of food products make up about 70-75% of revenue).[4] At its hypermarkets (the largest of which is the Éxito chain) it sells both packaged foods and perishables in addition to department store type products ranging from electronics to furniture.

Almacenes Éxito S.A.

Type	Sociedad Anónima
Traded as	BVC: EXITO
ISIN	COG31PA00010
Industry	Retail
Founded	1949
Headquarters	Envigado, Colombia
Number of locations	2,606[1] (2015)
Areas served	Colombia Uruguay Argentina
Key people	Carlos Mario Giraldo Moreno
Products	clothing, food, electronics, real estate services, travel, insurance. Hypermarket, Supermarket
Revenue	US$33.4 billion (2015)
Net income	US$573.4 million (2015)
Number of employees	40,000 (2020)
Parent	GPA (since 1999)
Divisions	Éxito Carulla Vivero Pomona, Ley
Website	www.grupoexito.com.co www.exito.com

Almacenes is Colombia's largest supermarket chain.[5]

History

A former Exito store in Venezuela, before it was expropriated by the Venezuelan government, and then renamed to Bicentenario

Grupo Éxito traces its origins to a Medellín, Colombia family run textile business founded in 1949 by Gustavo Toro Quintero. Éxito is the Spanish word for success. In 1972 it transitioned into a hypermarket when it added supermarket products and in 1974 it began adding more locations. Six years later a flagship store was opened in Bogotá, Colombia. In 1994 when there were four major locations, it went public on the Medellín and Bogotá stock exchanges but it didn't become a leading retailer until 1998. By then the company had further diversified its business, offering services related to eye care and travel.

The beginning of the 21st century was marked by an acquisitions spree starting with an 80% interest in Venezuelan hypermarket operator Cativen (much of the funds used were raised in the late 1990s when it sold 25% of the company to French group Casino and attracted investment from JP Morgan).[6] By year end 2010 Groupe Casino owned 53.89% of Almacenes Éxito (down from 67% in September).

-Merged with Cadenalco (formerly Colombia's largest retailer)[7] in 2001.

-Became associated with textiles and apparel company Didetexco in 2009 (ownership at 97.75%)[8]

Acquisitions spree in Uruguay and Argentina

In the summer of 2011, Almacenes Éxito acquired the Devoto and Disco chains in Uruguay, for US $746 million, as part of its expansion plan in Latin America. In July 2015, it completed the takeover of 100% of the Argentine chain Hipermercados Libertad and 50% of the Brazilian group Pão de Açúcar.[9]

Envigado shopping center

On October 5, 2018, Grupo Éxito opened the Viva Envigado shopping center, which with 260,000 m² is the second largest shopping center in Colombia after Centro Mayor (Bogotá), Calima (Bogotá), Mayorca Mega Plaza (Sabaneta), Plaza Central (Bogotá) and Santafé (Bogotá)[10]

Venezuela

Cativen (acronym for Cadena de Tiendas Venezolanas SA) is a venezuelan supermarket chain founded on March 23, 1995. It became affiliated with Grupo Exito in 2004 when Groupe Casino acquired 80% of Cativen's shares. At the time Almacenes Exito was also operating a number of its own stores in the country. n November 25, 2010, the Government of Venezuela expropriated several Éxito supermarkets citing price gauging, hoarding of supplies, and breaching the Law for the Defense of Persons in Access to Goods and Services. Subsequently, it bought the shares of the French group Casino, which owned 61.7% of Cativen's shares, and nationalized the remaining six Éxito supermarkets in the country. The Venezuelan government changed the name of the acquired cativan supermarkets to Bicentennial Supplies.[11]

Subsidiaries/Divisions

• Éxito (262 locations) - Operates hypermarkets throughout Colombia.
• Carulla - (Controlled by Almacenes since 2007, there are 100 supermarket stores)[12] Markets products under the brand names Vivero, Carulla. Vivero has more of a department store format.
• Viva - Shopping Malls
• Pomona - Supermarket operator
• Surtimax Bodega (153 locations in Colombia), cash & carry discount stores
• SuperINTER
• surtiMAYORISTA
• Uruguay
  • Devoto
  • Disco
  • Geant
• Argentina
  • Libertad
  • Paseo Libertad - large hypermarkets

Ownership structure

Just over 56% of company shares are held by Groupe Casino. The rest are with The Antioqueño Business Group & pension funds (19%), 4% by ADR's, roughly 20% belongs to institutional investors and banks.

References

1. http://www.grupoexito.com.co/files/inversionistas/pdf/Informes-trimestrales/4T15/EEFF_Consolidados_2015.pdf
2. Grupo Exito Depository Receipt
3. Grupo Exito 2009 Annual Report
4. Trimestral Consolidated Financial Results 1st quarter 2009
5. Cencosud to expand
6. "Groupe Casino 2007 Report" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-12. Retrieved 2010-09-15.
7. "Cadenalco establishes a sponsored ADR program with Morgan Guaranty Trust Company". 1994-12-22.
8. Almacenes Exito S.A.
9. "Éxito, nuevo líder de retail en Latinoamérica con negocios en Brasil y Argentina". July 30, 2015.
10. "Todo lo que debe saber del Viva Envigado". October 5, 2018.
11. "Venezuela: Éxito da paso a Bicentenario". February 14, 2010.
12. "Almacenes Exito / Carulla Vivero Acquisition". Archived from the original on 2011-07-13. Retrieved 2010-09-15.

External links

• http://www.grupoexito.com.co/
• http://www.exito.com/