Page 5 - Sphere No.7 (Oct 2002)

S

PHERE

3

bites

Symbolising her intent to reduce the price of

medicines in the Philippines, President Gloria

Macapagal Arroyo in July paid a visit to the

opening of

Watsons

’ latest health, drug and

beauty outlet in Manila, the Mandaluyong

City store at the SM Megamall. The President

was accompanied by Secretary of Trade and

Industry Manuel Roxas, Health Secretary

Manual Dayrit, and DrWilliamTorres, Chief

of the Philippines Bureau of Food and Drug.

In its biggest acquisition to date,

A.S.Watson

Group

(ASW) has acquired Netherlands-

based

Kruidvat Group

, making ASW the

world’s third-largest health and beauty

chain by outlets.The

Kruidvat

portfolio includes

Superdrug

in the UK,

Kruidvat

and

Trekpleister

in the Netherlands, Kruidvat in

Belgium;

Rossmann

(50% interest) in

Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic;

and perfumery retail chain

ICI Paris XL

in

Belgium and the Netherlands.Together these

comprise 1,900 health and beauty outlets

employing 24,000 people.The acquisition,

subject to approval from European Union

regulatory authorities, increases ASW’s global

reach to 3,200 retail stores in 20 countries.

ASW paid approximately

1.3 billion (about

US$1.26 billion) for Kruidvat. Combined sales

of ASW and the Kruidvat Group are expected

to exceed 7 billion this year, rising to

8

billion in 2003.The contribution by the retail

division to HWL’s total turnover is expected

to increase from approximately 30% to 40%.

ASW Group Managing Director IanWade

said the Group aimed to increase the number

of its stores worldwide to over 4,000 in three

years and had set a target to become the

world’s largest health and beauty retail group

within five years, overtaking US giants

Walgreens

and

Rite Aid

.ASW has the

option to acquire a 40% stake in Rossmann’s

German operation within two years of the

Kruidvat deal, providing 650 existing stores.

The Kruidvat acquisition is the latest move in

the Group’s strategic expansion into Europe’s

retail market, following the purchase in 2000

of UK-based chain

Savers

, which currently

has 280 stores nationwide.With the addition

of 706 Superdrug stores, the total number of

shop-fronts in the UK rises to 966 with more

openings planned.The Group will use these

stores to offer more points of sale for its 3G

mobile communications business in the UK

through the “store within a store” concept.

PARK

n

SHOP

has launched two new

megastores in Southern China following the

success of the first, which opened in February

2001 at the Cultural Plaza, Dongguan.

In July, the supermarket chain launched a

200,000-sq-ft megastore in the City Owner

District of Shenzhen.This was followed by the

PARK

n

SHOP Guangzhou Fujing Garden

Megastore, which opened for business in

September.With an area of 203,880 sq ft, it is

PARK

n

SHOP’s biggest store in China to

date.The megastore format offers a huge

range of products in its many Mini-Worlds,

from groceries and fresh food to textiles, toys,

electronics and cosmetics.

PARK

n

SHOP meanwhile was named Hong

Kong’s “Most Favoured Brand” in a

worldwide survey by research house

Ipsos-

Reid

, which polled more than 17,000 people

in 22 countries. Hong Kong was the only

country in which a retailer took top spot.

Acquisition puts A.S.Watson inTopThree

PARK

n

SHOP Megastores Open in China

Premier Visits Newest Watsons Store

Hutchison Telecommunications

has joined

forces with

Singapore Technologies

Telemedia

to invest US$250 million for a

61.5% majority interest in

Global Crossing

on its emergence from bankruptcy.

Global Crossing’s integrated global IP-based

network reaches 27 countries and more than

200 major cities.

Under the terms of the August 9 agreement,

Global Crossing’s banks and creditors receive

38.5% of the common equity in the newly

constituted Global Crossing, US$300 million in

cash and US$200 million of new debt in the

form of senior notes. Existing common equity

and preferred shareholders of Global Crossing

will not participate in the new capital structure.

The agreement was approved by the

Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of

NewYork with the support of Global

Crossing’s creditor groups.

The company is undergoing a Chapter 11

reorganisation plan and the new investment

is expected to fund its emergence from

bankruptcy in early 2003, subject to regulatory

approvals.

Global Crossing Deal

Continuity Solution

Hong Kong-based

Hutchison Global

Crossing

has changed its English name to

Hutchison Global Communications

(HGC), effective August 20.The change

followed

Hutchison’s

repurchase of

Asia

Global Crossing’s

50% interest in HGC in

April 2002, making HGC a wholly owned

subsidiary of

HWL

. HGC’s Chinese name

remains unchanged.

Meanwhile, building on its fibre optic

network, HGC in August launched

ContinuityONE

, a one-stop business continuity

solution that offers seamless connectivity,

sophisticated network equipment, networked

storage technology and data centre

management.With HGC as the service

integrator,

ContinuityONE

also provides

consultancy, infrastructure design, installation,

network testing and implementation, and

disaster recovery operation and management.

Customers needing to build a data centre can

also take advantage of the world-leading

hosting facilities of

Hutchison

GlobalCenter

.

HONG KONG

C

R E T A I L & M A N U F A C T U R I N G

T E L E C O M S