(October 02, 2001)
Hamburg, 2 October 2001 - The wine trading group Hawesko Holding AG announced today that it will merge its mail-order subsidiary Hanseatisches Wein- und Sekt-Kontor GmbH & Co. KG and its e-commerce subsidiary Winegate New Media GmbH. In the future, the entire product and services offer of Hanseatisches Wein- und Sekt-Kontor will be available on the Internet platform. The online operations will be put together under the Web site www.hawesko.de. This will facilitate optimal multi-channel marketing and provide the Group with opportunities for the expansion and full utilization of profitable customer relationships. In addition, the already existing synergies in logistics and order processing can be further enhanced.
"For us, the mail-order segment and the Internet are closely interlinked", explains Alexander Margaritoff, CEO of Hawesko Holding AG. "We are proud that our e-commerce division under 'Winegate.de' achieved so much in 2000. At DM 11 million, our online sales increased nearly sixfold over 1999, enabling us to expand our market leadership in Germany and join the ranks of the top e-commerce companies worldwide. That's the foundation on which we are now building by treating e-commerce and classic mail-order sales as two sides of the same coin."
The customer-friendly networking of various information and ordering channels will not only increase customer loyalty but also open up additional market potential. The outstanding functions and features of the Web site will remain the same, while the service will continue to be improved on an ongoing basis.
The primary factor in the success of the Internet platform "Winegate.de" has been the many years of experience of the Hawesko Group. As an established multi-channel business, Hawesko has numerous decisive advantages over pure Internet wine dealers. Now, more than ever before, these advantages are united under the name Hawesko.
Hawesko Holding AG is Germany's leading seller of premium wines and champagnes. Through its three distribution channels - mail order/e-commerce (particularly Hanseatisches Wein- und Sekt-Kontor), stationary specialist retail (Jacques' Wein-Depot) and wholesale (Wein Wolf and CWD Champagner- und Wein-Distributionsgesellschaft) -- the Group achieved sales of DM 454 million in fiscal year 2000. The Group employs a yearly average of 515 people.
Published by:
Hawesko Holding AG
P.O. Box 20 15 52
20205 Hamburg
Germany
Internet:
http://www.hawesko.com (corporate site)
http://www.hawesko.de (online shop)
Press/Media:
Vera Maria Bau, VMB Consulting
Tel. +49 (0)2244 91 27 36
Fax +49 (0)2244 91 27 38
e-mail: vmb@nsag.de
Investor Relations:
Thomas Hutchinson, Hawesko Holding AG
Tel. +49 (0)40 30 39 21 00
Fax +49 (0)40 30 39 21 05
e-mail: ir@hawesko.com