Instant gratification? In your own time

摘要

Like I said last month, while our industry is undoubtedly in a state of flux, for any deals and big announcements to shake out, bear fruit and create results often takes a long time. And that goes for both ends of the results spectrum - good and bad. So the ADVEO saga is slowly reaching its conclusion, with the company apparently safe in France and Benelux through its new private equity owner Sandton Capital Partners, while it's curtains in countries such as Italy, Germany and Spain (seepage 7). Nobody would argue that OP wholesaling is a tough business, profitable wholesaling even more so. Proving that this channel is still very much needed at a time when 'going direct' is becoming more common is one of the remits of fellow Spanish wholesaler Comercial del Sur, incidentally one of the beneficiaries of ADVEO's demise (see page 16). But Comercial too had a hard time establishing itself in a brand new market - France - and it's taken years before the company is now able to address the market from a position of strength.