Merger goes ahead

PPG is a corporate group of the Perusa Partners Fund for the activities of the private equity firm in the pet supplies sector. The group includes the companies Karlie Heimtierbedarf and Flamingo NV. Since PPG is an administrative holding company, however, the name plays only a minor role in external communications. “The family brands Karlie and Flamingo continue to be the focal point,” explains Angelika Westerwelle. The new PPG managing director is extremely satisfied with the progress made to date in the merger of Karlie Heimtierbedarf and Flamingo. The composition of the joint marketing team for the individual markets has now been established. For Germany and Austria, a 30-strong sales team has been assembled under the leadership of Boris Kley. This includes five employees from the previous German distribution arm of Flamingo. In France, where Flamingo has had a stronger position in the market than Karlie hitherto, the previous Flamingo subsidiary has now been expanded into a joint distribution subsidiary of Karlie and Flamingo employing 15 staff. Common ranges In putting together the product ranges, Angelika Westerwelle is drawing heavily on intuition and close consultation with trading partners in the different countries. The strengths of Karlie and Flamingo are to be shown to better advantage than before in the future product spectrum. With regard to dog leashes, an important product group for Karlie, it makes little sense to offer the same or similar products under the Flamingo brand too, for example. Conversely, the Flamingo brand of treats has done well in the market, says Angelika Westerwelle, because the company has greater expertise than Karlie in this product group. “Once the ranges have been put together, the product portfolio and service offering will be bigger and stronger than ever,” explains the PPG managing director. “The new joint venture will have considerably more weight as a player in the market than the individual companies had previously.” The staff need not have any worries about the future in this regard, as there is no talk of cutting jobs. On the contrary, the greater market strength of the joint venture should make jobs more secure. At the Dutch trade show Dibevo, Karlie Heimtierbedarf and Flamingo appeared for the first time on a joint exhibition stand. “This will always be the case in future,” stresses Angelika Westerwelle. The sector awaits the large-scale presentation of the new joint venture at the world-leading fair…