Beter Bed N.V.

Naamloze Vennootschap

is the Dutch term for a public limited liability company. The company is owned by shareholders, and the company's shares are not registered to certain owners, so that they may be traded on the public stock market....

is a Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 retail company. Through its subsidiaries

Subsidiary

A subsidiary company, subsidiary, or daughter company is a company that is completely or partly owned and wholly controlled by another company that owns more than half of the subsidiary's stock. The subsidiary can be a company, corporation, or limited liability company. In some cases it is a...

 Beter Bed Holding N.V. trades in bedroom furniture

Bedroom furniture

Bedroom furniture, sometimes called a bedroom set or bedroom suite consists of a group of furniture in a bedroom or sleeping quarters. Pieces of furniture referred to as bedroom furniture usually include: beds, wardrobes, dressers, chests, nightstands, armoires, vanities, trunks, and mirrors...

, mattress

Mattress

A mattress is a manufactured product to sleep or lie on, consisting of resilient materials and covered with an outer fabric or ticking. In the developed world it is typically part of a bed set and is placed upon a foundation....

es and related products. In this line of business Beter Bed N.V is market leader in the Netherlands. Since 5 December 1996 Beter Bed's shares are being traded on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange

Amsterdam Stock Exchange

The Amsterdam Stock Exchange is the former name for the stock exchange based in Amsterdam. It merged on 22 September 2000 with the Brussels Stock Exchange and the Paris Stock Exchange to form Euronext, and is now known as Euronext Amsterdam.-History:...

. However, Beter Bed does not belong to the group of companies that compose the AEX index

AEX index

The AEX index, derived from Amsterdam Exchange index, is a stock market index composed of Dutch companies that trade on Euronext Amsterdam, formerly known as the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. Started in 1983, the index is composed of a maximum of 25 of the most actively traded securities on the exchange...

 but are part of the group that compose the Amsterdam Small Cap Index

AScX index

The AScX index, derived from Amsterdam Small Cap Index, also known as Small Cap index or simply Small Cap, is a stock market index composed of Dutch companies that trade on Euronext Amsterdam, formerly known as the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. The index was started in 2005. It is composed of the 25...

.

The corporate headquarters

Corporate headquarters

Corporate headquarters is a term used to describe the entity at the top of a corporation to take full responsibility for the overall success of the corporation, ensures Corporate Governance...

 are in Uden

Uden

Uden is a municipality and a town in the province of Noord-Brabant, Netherlands.- History :Uden was first recorded around 1190 as “Uthen”. However, earlier settlements have been found in the areas of the modern day Moleneind, Vorstenburg and Bitswijk and evidence of ice-age settlements has been...

, in the Dutch province

Provinces of the Netherlands

A Dutch province represents the administrative layer in between the national government and the local municipalities, having the responsibility for matters of subnational or regional importance. The government of each province consists of three major parts: the Provinciale Staten which is the...

 of North Brabant

North Brabant

North Brabant , sometimes called Brabant, is a province of the Netherlands, located in the south of the country, bordered by Belgium in the south, the Meuse River in the north, Limburg in the east and Zeeland in the west.- History :...

. Beter Bed Holding N.V. is the mother company of several different brands of chain store

Chain store

Chain stores are retail outlets that share a brand and central management, and usually have standardized business methods and practices. These characteristics also apply to chain restaurants and some service-oriented chain businesses. In retail, dining and many service categories, chain businesses...

s, totalling 1072 shops in a number of Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an countries. These companies operate in various market segment

Market segment

Market segmentation is a concept in economics and marketing. A market segment is a sub-set of a market made up of people or organizations with one or more characteristics that cause them to demand similar product and/or services based on qualities of those products such as price or function...

s, from cash and carry

Cash and carry (wholesale)

Cash and carry wholesale represents a type of operation within the wholesale sector. Its main features are summarized best by the following definitions:...

 products to exclusive bedroom furniture, each chain maintaining its own unique retail concept. The development and production of orthopedic

Orthopedic surgery

Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system...

 mattresses is directed by the subsidiary DBC.

Beter Bed N.V. employs 2,227 full-time employees in seven countries.

History

Beter Bed was founded in 1981 in Uden by the brothers Mark and Pieter Diks. They raised capital from their father, Jan Diks, co-owner of Dico, managed to secure a modest bank loan and opened their first shop in Uden. Shortly afterwards three shops, specialising in bedroom furniture, had been opened. At that time shops specialising in bedroom furniture and accompanying products were a new and unfamiliar phenomenon since this market segment was dominated by large department store

Department store

A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...

s and specialist shops concentrating on general interiors. The concept of providing high quality goods and a wide range of products at a low price proved to be successful and was a blueprint for all future activities of Beter Bed. During the second half of the 1980s the company began to grow.

1986 Bedden en Bedden B.V., a factory for the production of MDF panels

Medium-density fibreboard

Medium-density fiberboard is an engineered wood product formed by breaking down hardwood or softwood residuals into wood fibres, often in a defibrator, combining it with wax and a resin binder, and forming panels by applying high temperature and pressure...

, was established in Uden. In the 1990s two more production facilities were added to the company by acquiring two factories in Poland, Ecowood (1994) and Interwood (1996).

The flotation

Initial public offering

An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...

 of Beter Bed Holding N.V. took place in December 1996. Shares

Share (finance)

A joint stock company divides its capital into units of equal denomination. Each unit is called a share. These units are offered for sale to raise capital. This is termed as issuing shares. A person who buys share/shares of the company is called a shareholder, and by acquiring share or shares in...

 of Beter Bed Holding N.V. are traded at the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. In the same year another company was added to the holding by the acquisition of Dormaël, a company that operates in the higher segment of the bedroom furniture market. The following year Beter Baby was founded, with the goal to gain market shares in the trade with bedroom furniture for babies and small children. At the same time Beter Bed N.V. acquired DFC Comfort ensuring the sole right of representation for orthopedic mattresses and pillows by this company within the Benelux

Benelux

The Benelux is an economic union in Western Europe comprising three neighbouring countries, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. These countries are located in northwestern Europe between France and Germany...

.

In order to comply with the planned expansion

Economic expansion

An economic expansion is an increase in the level of economic activity, and of the goods and services available in the market place. It is a period of economic growth as measured by a rise in real GDP.The explanation of such fluctuations in aggregate economic activity is one of the primary...

 and the resulting requirements the company moved to a new location in January 1997, consisting of a larger administrative building and a distribution centre

Distribution center

A distribution center for a set of products is a warehouse or other specialized building, often with refrigeration or air conditioning, which is stocked with products to be redistributed to retailers, to wholesalers, or directly to consumers. A distribution center is a principal part, the order...

 with a surface of 16,000 m², after a construction time of one year.

In the second half of the 1990s the subsidiary Bedden Dump was founded. Originally set up to sell items taken from the Beter Bed range via temporary shops, it was decided in 2002 to expand this formula into a discount chain

Discount store

A discount store is a type of department store, which sells products at prices lower than those asked by traditional retail outlets. Most discount department stores offer a wide assortment of goods; others specialize in such merchandise as jewelry, electronic equipment, or electrical appliances...

 for bedroom furniture according to a cash and carry concept, targeting the lower market segment. In 2005 this company was renamed BeddenReus.

In 1998 the company expanded into Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 by opening the first two shops in Essen

Essen

- Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...

 and Dortmund

Dortmund

Dortmund is a city in Germany. It is located in the Bundesland of North Rhine-Westphalia, in the Ruhr area. Its population of 585,045 makes it the 7th largest city in Germany and the 34th largest in the European Union....

. Also in 1998 Beter Bed N.V. acquired the German company Matratzen Concord whose headquarters were based in Cologne

Cologne

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...

. At the same time Matratzen Concord began its expansion into Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

 and Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 (1998), as well as the Netherlands (1999), France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 and Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 (2000). Also in 1998, Mark and Pieter Diks, the holding's founding brothers, sold a large amount of their shares in the company, reducing their commitment to 18%.

The holding's structure began to change in 1999. One of the founding brothers, Pieter Diks, sold his remaining shares and retired from the management. Mark Diks again reduced his share in the company in May 2000 but remained in the management team for the time being. Also in 2000 the production facility Bedden und Bedden was sold off and the subsidiary Dormaël was converted into a franchising

Franchising

Franchising is the practice of using another firm's successful business model. The word 'franchise' is of anglo-French derivation - from franc- meaning free, and is used both as a noun and as a verb....

 formula. Following a management buyout

Management buyout

A management buyout is a form of acquisition where a company's existing managers acquire a large part or all of the company.- Overview :Management buyouts are similar in all major legal aspects to any other acquisition of a company...

 Beter Baby was sold off. In August 2000, it was announced that the Blokker family had acquired 15% of Beter Bed's shares.

Mark Diks resigned as CEO and became a member of the supervisory board of the holding in January 2001. Since January 2001 the office of CEO has been held by Frans Geelen, having joined Beter Bed in August 2000 and after having served as a member of the board of directors

Board of directors

A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...

 of C&A Europe

C&A

C&A is an international chain of fashion retail clothing stores, with its European head offices in Vilvoorde , Belgium and Düsseldorf, Germany...

 since 1996.

In 2001 all activities of the subsidiary DFC Comfort were discontinued and a new company DBC International was founded. DBC International is active in the development, marketing

Marketing

Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...

 and selling

Sales

A sale is the act of selling a product or service in return for money or other compensation. It is an act of completion of a commercial activity....

 of mattresses developed under its own direction.

At the end of 2001 Beter Bed N.V. had a total of 555 shops.

In the first half of 2002 investment fund

Collective investment scheme

A collective investment scheme is a way of investing money alongside other investors in order to benefit from the inherent advantages of working as part of a group...

 NeSBIC attempted to take over

Takeover

In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company by another . In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are listed on a stock exchange, in contrast to the acquisition of a private company.- Friendly takeovers :Before a bidder makes an offer for another...

 Beter Bed N.V. by offering €16 for every share sold to it. In view of the inadequate offer and simultaneous insecurity with regards to the financial backing, the project ultimately failed.
At the same time the remaining founder, Mark Diks, sold his remaining shares and subsequently withdrew from the supervisory board.

Matratzen Concord closed all its shops in Italy and France in 2003 due to disappointing sales figures and the lack of short-term prospects.

Beter Bed's strategy changed during this period, returning to its core activities, the trading and selling of bedroom furniture and accessories and turning away from producing its own goods. As a consequence, in May 2005 the last remaining factory in Poland, Interwood, was sold, the second factory in Poland, Ecowood, had already been closed down in 2004. By the end of 2004 some but not all of the Dormaël shops had gone into receivership

Receivership

In law, receivership is the situation in which an institution or enterprise is being held by a receiver, a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights." The receivership remedy is an equitable remedy that emerged in...

, Consequently, in June 2005 the first shops of Slaapgenoten, a company created by merging most of the remaining shops of the company Dormaël, founded in 2000 as a franchise formula, were opened. However, some of these still operate under the name of Dormaël. In September of the same year the Spanish chain El Gigante del Colchón was acquired by Beter Bed N.V. At the time El Gigante del Colchón had 20 shops in the region of Barcelona

Barcelona

Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

. At the end of 2008 the company had grown to 47 shops covering the whole of Catalonia

Catalonia

Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...

 and expanded into the region of Madrid

Madrid

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...

.

In December 2005 all activities of the subsidiary Beter Bed Deutschland were terminated. The locations were integrated into Matratzen Concord.

In October 2006 a second strategy for selling mattresses in Germany was introduced with the founding of the new subsidiary MAV Matratzen-Abverkauf. Two shops were opened in 2006. At the end of 2008 the company had grown to 30 shops. The activities of MAV Matratzen-Abverkauf are concentrated in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia

North Rhine-Westphalia

North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...

 while, at the same time, expanding southwards into Baden-Württemberg

Baden-Württemberg

Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...

.

In September 2007, the first shops of Matratzen Concord were opened in Belgium. By the end of June 2009 the number of shops there has grown to five with the intention to open more in the future.

In the second half of 2008 the first Matratzen Concord shop was opened in Warsaw

Warsaw

Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...

 under the name of Materace Concord. The opening of further shops in Poland is planned, the second shop opening in the first half of 2009.

On 14 April 2009, CEO Frans Geelen announced his intention to resign from the office as chairman of the board of directors by April 2010 the latest. On 9 October 2009, it was revealed that Ton Anbeek, at the time CEO at Koninklijke Auping bv, would succeed Frans Geelen as of 1 March 2010, the appointment being ratified during an extraordinary general meeting of the shareholders of Beter Bed on 5 November 2009.

On 23 April 2009, it was announced that CFO Ric van der Woude had accepted a position as CFO at Zeeman Groep.
On 1 September 2009 his responsibilities were taken over by Duncan van Hoeve as non-statutory Finance Director.

On 1 September 2009 his responsibilities were taken over by Duncan van Hoeve as non-statutory Finance Director.

With the opening of the first Beter Bed store in Olen, Belgium on 29 September 2011, Beter Bed B.V. attempts an expansion into the Belgian market.

Assets

Beter Bed N.V. owns a number of companies operating in several European countries.

Company	Country	Turnover share
Beter Bed B.V.	The Netherlands	31,7%
BeddenREUS	The Netherlands	3,7%
Slaapgenoten	The Netherlands	2,0%
DBC	The Netherlands	3,7%
Matratzen Concord	The Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Poland	54,0%
MAV Matratzen-Abverkauf GmbH	Germany	1,0%
El Gigante del Colchón S.L.	Spain	4,0%

One company operates on a franchise basis.

Company	Country
Dormaël	The Netherlands

Objectives

Whereas in 2001 the objectives

Goal

A goal is an objective, or a projected computation of affairs, that a person or a system plans or intends to achieve.Goal, GOAL or G.O.A.L may also refer to:Sport...

 of Beter Bed N.V. were simply defined as aiming at fast and profitable expansion in the fragmented European bedroom furniture market whereby the various subsidiaries were supposed to endeavour to become market leaders in those countries they were active in on the one hand, and by developing own brand

Store brand

Store brands are a line of products sold by a retailer under a single marketing identity. They bear a similarity to the concept of House brands, Private label brands in the United States, own brands in the UK, and home brands in Australia and generic brands...

 products which were to be sold by the company's own retail chains as well as through other distribution channels on the other hand, the objectives since 2009 have become more specific and detailed. The company now aims to strengthen further its alleged market leadership in Europe by positioning itself in such a way to make use of any possibility of growth

Economic growth

In economics, economic growth is defined as the increasing capacity of the economy to satisfy the wants of goods and services of the members of society. Economic growth is enabled by increases in productivity, which lowers the inputs for a given amount of output. Lowered costs increase demand...

. Also, even though a temporary decrease in net profit

Net profit

Net profit or net revenue is a measure of the profitability of a venture after accounting for all costs. In a survey of nearly 200 senior marketing managers, 91 percent responded that they found the "net profit" metric very useful...

 is considered to be possible under exceptional circumstances, one of the goals is still to increase net profit

Net profit

Net profit or net revenue is a measure of the profitability of a venture after accounting for all costs. In a survey of nearly 200 senior marketing managers, 91 percent responded that they found the "net profit" metric very useful...

. This is to be realised by adjusting various priorities. Furthermore, the target of an EBIT

Earnings before interest and taxes

In accounting and finance, earnings before interest and taxes is a measure of a firm's profit that excludes interest and income tax expenses. Operating income is the difference between operating revenues and operating expenses...

 of 12,5% is to be retained as an objective, although the company admits that this will be unlikely in the near future if market conditions were to remain as they had been in 2008. Finally, in view of the uncertain market conditions Beter Bed N.V. considers an impeccable balance sheet

Balance sheet

In financial accounting, a balance sheet or statement of financial position is a summary of the financial balances of a sole proprietorship, a business partnership or a company. Assets, liabilities and ownership equity are listed as of a specific date, such as the end of its financial year. A...

 and a strong cash flow

Cash flow

Cash flow is the movement of money into or out of a business, project, or financial product. It is usually measured during a specified, finite period of time. Measurement of cash flow can be used for calculating other parameters that give information on a company's value and situation.Cash flow...

 to be vital to the strength and effectiveness of the company.

Strategy

Beter Bed Holding's strategy for the realisation of the objectives is to ensure like for like

Like for like

Like for like growth is a measure of growth in sales, adjusted for new or divested businesses. This is a widely-used indicator of retailers' current trading performance. The adjustment is important in businesses that show a significant dynamic of expansion, disposals or closures...

 growth in revenue

Revenue

In business, revenue is income that a company receives from its normal business activities, usually from the sale of goods and services to customers. In many countries, such as the United Kingdom, revenue is referred to as turnover....

 at comparable shops and low investments per shop accompanied by flexibility in relation to rental

Renting

Renting is an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property owned by another. A gross lease is when the tenant pays a flat rental amount and the landlord pays for all property charges regularly incurred by the ownership from landowners...

 contracts. Secondly, the existing concept for shops is to be expanded, particularly outside the Netherlands. Additionally, the sales organisation is to be optimised and the sales methods improved through in-house training

Training

The term training refers to the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and competencies as a result of the teaching of vocational or practical skills and knowledge that relate to specific useful competencies. It forms the core of apprenticeships and provides the backbone of content at institutes of...

. Also, by utilising the company's IT

Information technology

Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...

 systems to its full capability information can be provided to which should enable Beter Bed N.V. to respond quickly to new trends

Market trend

A market trend is a putative tendency of a financial market to move in a particular direction over time. These trends are classified as secular for long time frames, primary for medium time frames, and secondary for short time frames...

 and opportunities and to make capacity adjustments in the event of changed market conditions. Finally, own product concepts are to be further to be developed by utilising technological developments in the field of mattress production and by responding to local trends in demand

Demand (economics)

In economics, demand is the desire to own anything, the ability to pay for it, and the willingness to pay . The term demand signifies the ability or the willingness to buy a particular commodity at a given point of time....

 of these products.

Management board

The management board of Beter Bed N.V. consists of the chief executive officer

Chief executive officer

A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...

 and the chief financial officer

Chief financial officer

The chief financial officer or Chief financial and operating officer is a corporate officer primarily responsible for managing the financial risks of the corporation. This officer is also responsible for financial planning and record-keeping, as well as financial reporting to higher management...

.

• Ton Anbeek, CEO
• Duncan van Hoeve, CFO

Supervisory board

The supervisory board has five members.

• Dirk Goeminne, chairman
• Abel Slippens, vice-chairman
• Cas Renders
• Jaap Blokker
  Jaap Blokker
  Jacob "Jaap" Blokker was a Dutch businessman and executive.Blokker was born in Amsterdam. From 1976 to 2010 he was general director of Blokker Holding, which operates a series of chain stores in various countries, the most well-known in the Netherlands is Blokker...
  
  
• Els de Groot-Theodoridis

Major shareholders

65 % of shares are held by eight companies. The remaining 35 % are free floating.

Shareholder	Percentage
Breedinvest B.V.	12,8 %
Delta Deelnemingen Fonds	11,6 %
Kempen Capital Management N.V.	9,9 %
Aviva plc Aviva Aviva plc is a global insurance company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the sixth-largest insurance company in the world measured by net premium income and has 53 million customers in 28 countries...	7,6 %
Fortis Verzekeringen Nederland N.V. Fortis (finance) Fortis N.V./S.A. was a company active in insurance, banking and investment management. In 2007 it was the 20th largest business in the world by revenue but after encountering severe problems in the financial crisis of 2008, most of the company was sold in parts, with only insurance activities...	6,6 %
Menor Investment B.V.	5,7 %
Harris Associates L.P. Harris Associates L.P. Harris Associates L.P. is a Chicago-based investment company that manages $47.8 billion in assets. The firm is known for managing the Oakmark mutual funds. The company also was the defendant in a lawsuit that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on in March 2010....	5,6 %
Todlin N.V.	5,2 %