Heritage

Second-generation expansion

C&A Brenninkmeijer continued to grow apace as the eight sons – four sons each – of Clemens and August all set up new stores in cities around the Netherlands. This was the model of entrepreneurial expansion that would see the business grow over the coming decades – new generations devoting themselves to the enterprise, travelling to new cities, setting up home in new communities and raising families.

London store opens

With tough economic conditions in Germany after the First World War and a third generation of ambitious Brenninkmeijer “aspirants” waiting in the wings, the family looked overseas for the next phase of growth. The first UK branch on the corner of Oxford Street and Bird Street opened for business in September 1922 trading under the name C&A Modes Ltd. The opening was frenzied, with post-war Londoners scrambling to take advantage of fashion at competitive prices. After initial teething problems where demand outstripped supply, the UK operation became one of the leading companies in the group.

Rethinking the US market

As C&A’s first foray into the US was losing momentum, the family owners – keen to keep a foothold in the market and demonstrate that they’d learned some tough lessons – adopted another strategy. In 1962, they bought Ohrbach’s Inc., a family-owned chain headquartered in New York, and this began a string of acquisitions of specialty stores under the umbrella Amcena (renamed American Retail Group in 1994). Brands like The Lodge, Maurices, Miller’s Outpost, Eastern Mountain Sports, Woman’s World, Uptons and Steinbach helped the business in the US to expand.

C&A rises in the East

Expansion tends to happen in phases, and as the 21st century beckoned, C&A looked east for opportunity. After the opening of the first store in the Czech Republic a succession of stores opened in new countries across Eastern Europe and beyond, including Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania, Croatia and Turkey. With new stores opening in Russia and China, C&A became a truly global retailer.

Redevco expands in Belgium

With the EUR 1.1 billion acquisition of GIB Immo’s property portfolio in 2001, Redevco became the largest real estate company in Belgium – a position it maintains to this day.

New industries, new horizons

Redevco’s partnership strategy pays off

As part of its partnership growth strategy, Redevco teamed up with Ares Management to acquire a portfolio of six retail parks in Spain and Portugal in 2016 for EUR 95 million. The joint venture added three further retail parks to the portfolio, and with shrewd asset management Redevco successfully exited in 2017 having increased the combined value to EUR 195 million.

New partners, new growth

In recent years, COFRA has gradually opened up its businesses to selected partnerships. In 2019, C&A Brazil listed on the stock exchange, enabling the company to access new sources of funding to expand further in an exciting, high-growth market. In 2020, C&A sold its China operations to a Beijing investor, giving it access to the local expertise and strong network necessary to realise its full potential in this vast market.

Redevco’s ambitious expansion programme is being driven by opening up its pan-European investment platform to third parties that share its mission and values. And by diversifying into new sectors beyond retail.

Bregal Investments, COFRA’s private equity platform, has a proven track record in attracting new external investors to accelerate portfolio growth and create value. And Anthos Fund & Asset Management, too, has opened up its asset management services to select third-party clients.

Powering towards a cleaner, sustainable future

COFRA has also long been committed to investing in clean energy. It can build on decades of experience, dating back to Good Energies (founded 2001). The industry has changed and matured since then. COFRA’s approach has changed and matured too. It now focuses on downstream investments where market conditions tend to be more stable, rather than the technology-driven upstream sector.

COFRA’s acquisition of Sunrock Investments in 2020 is a good example of this. A leading provider of solar energy in the Netherlands, Sunrock has an established market and uses proven technology. It offers the perfect platform for COFRA’s continued expansion into the renewable energy sector and for its commitment to playing a positive role in tackling climate change.