Many brands coexist within Alliance Marine. There have been rumors that some of them, such as Reya or Topoplastic, will disappear. What is the situation?
This is not the case. We are keeping the commercial brands, with dedicated teams and specific commercial actions for each. On the other hand, some legal entities are disappearing.
The first legal merger that will be finalized on January 1, 2018 is that between Vidal Diffusion Marine and Reya, which becomes VDM-Reya. This is primarily about gaining efficiency, with common administrative and legal services. Our customers now have a standardized logistics offer and a single invoice. The process has already been underway for 3 years and the teams of VDM and Reya have been grouped in the same building.
Topoplastic will become a Plastimo brand. Similarly, we have just acquired Midinox, which will be integrated into the VDM-Reya entity.
So what is Alliance Marine's role in managing these many brands? Isn't it in our interest to limit the number of brands?
Our job since the creation of Alliance Marine 17 years ago is to stimulate the development of our companies. As a shareholder, we do not intervene directly in the management of the companies, which remain independent and control their marketing and strategy. If we take the example of PSA, it is interesting to have several brands, because a customer who buys a Peugeot one day, can buy a Citroën a few years later. It's the same for us. As a distributor, we can also represent several brands through our different entities. Companies like Kent Marine and Seimi, which were more in the professional marine business, are developing in the big yachting business, with a new business mix and healthy competition.
You mentioned the purchase of Midinox, are there any other operations planned in France and abroad?
In addition to Midinox in France, we have just acquired Bukh Bremen, the German leader in the distribution and import of nautical equipment. I cannot talk to you today about projects that have not been finalized. On the other hand, there is today a logic of development of Alliance Marine on the international level
