News today that Metro International has sold a stake in Metro Sweden to its main competitor, Schibsted. £350SEK for 35% of Metro Sweden marks an interesting new commercial strategy for PMJ, the new CEO of Metro International. Is this a case of any port in a storm to generate cash to improve the financial performance in the short term, or a bold and dynamic route-map for the future?
Time will tell whether this is a blueprint to be rolled out across other territories, it certainly makes sense in some, but maybe not in all. Metro are no strangers to JVs, operating a JV and franchise model in a number of countries, so the history and experience of this type of working exists within the business.
It will be interesting to see how the partnership works on raising margins in Sweden in the next 12 months, and whether the investment pays back quick dividends.
No comments:
Post a Comment