Organisation and resources

International alliances

In order to buy at the best price and to compete effectively, Les Mousquetaires have entered into international food and non-food alliances.

Food alliances

EROSKI (Spain): On 24 September 2002, Les Mousquetaires and the EROSKI group (the leading Spanish retail distribution business) set up a joint venture called ALIDIS (the French acronym stands for the 'International alliance of distributors for international volume purchases and sharing of skills'). This joint enterprise is intended to welcome other European distributors sharing the same values and objectives. The two groups ratified the creation of a 50/50 joint venture. The head office of this company is in Geneva where Agenor, the European central purchasing unit of Les Mousquetaires, is already located. Michel Pattou, chairman of Les Mousquetaires, was appointed chairman of Alidis on 16 September 2004. He succeeded Mr Constan Dacosta, chairman and managing director of the Eroski group, who had been its chairman since its creation in September 2002.

For more details about EROSKI >>

EDEKA (Germany): On 28 april 2005, Edeka, the first food retailer in Germany, joined ALIDIS. With 13,500 outlets and a cumulated turnover of 75 billion euros, ALIDIS has become the first alliance of independent retailers in Europe.

Non-food alliances
Thanks to the alliances which Les Mousquetaires have set up with distributors of DIY products, which, like them, are independent, Bricomarché and Logimarché have strengthened their purchasing power on an international level, improving value for money for consumers:
RONA (Canada): The leading independent distributor of DIY and gardening products in Québec with 530 outlets; Les Mousquetaires have been in partnership with RONA since 1997.
ZEUS (Germany): with more than 1,000 outlets in Germany, Zeus is the fifth largest DIY product distributor and the leading materials trader on a national level. This alliance, which relates to purchase negotiations, led to the creation of a common purchasing centre, ARENA, at the end of 2000.
MICA (South Africa and the UK): Les Mousquetaires have also signed an agreement with Mica Plus Ltd which has more than 190 outlets in South Africa where it has a 19% market share. MICA Hardware has a presence in the UK and has 160 outlets (1% of the UK market).
DITAS (Denmark): has a 45% market share in Denmark with 256 outlets.
MITRE 10 (Australia): has 780 outlets and a 15% market share.
BRICOSTORE (France) : Diy retailer present in three Central European countries : Hongary, Romania and Croatia.