Black Red White. The Austrian tycoon takes full control over BRW

Austrian furniture mogel – a group of XXXLUTZ – took over 50 percent. shares, gaining full control over the Polish group Black Red White (BRW). The first half of the shares was acquired in mid -2022.

“The Black Red White group will continue to manage independently, and in particular it will run companies producing furniture in an autonomous way,” BRW said in a press release.

As added, “the parties agreed that they would not disclose the details of the contract. The acquisition of shares is subject to approval by the relevant competition authorities.”

The company supplemented that for customers the transaction will mean a greater selection, fast availability and better prices of goods. On the other hand, BRW is to take advantage of the presence of XXXLUTZ in stationary and online retail trade in 14 European countries.

The President of the BRW Group Mariusz Sośnierz expressed the belief that membership in the XXXLUTZ group would create conditions for development and a greater role on the furniture market.

In turn, the spokesman for the XXXLUTZ Thomas Saliger group drew attention to “difficult economic conditions in the industry” and the role of stationary trade in conjunction with a strong online store.

XXXLUTZ has been around for 80 years. He is one of the largest furniture sellers in the world with over 370 furniture showrooms in 14 countries, such as Austria, Germany, The czech republic, Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia, CroatiaRomania, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Sweden, Serbia, Poland and Belgium. Employs over 27 100 employees. The group's annual turnover is about EUR 6 billion.

Black Red White from Biłgoraj has been operating for nearly 35 years. The founder and long -term owner of the company was Tadeusz Chmiel, for the years one belonging to the group of the richest Poles.

BRW is one of the largest manufacturers and furniture distributors in Poland as well as interior design articles. The company is a dominant unit in a capital group, which has 82 own stores, a network of approx. 300 trade partners in Poland, employs over 5,000 people and exports to 30 countries.

January 17 this year BRW has announced a plan to dismiss 220 employees employed at the plant in Przeworsk (Podkarpackie Voivodeship). In the following days, the Solidarity “Solidarity” reported to start a reduction in Biłgoraj (Lublin Voivodeship) and Mielec (Podkarpackie Voivodeship), and the Biłgoraj Labor Office reported to increase the number of people covered by group dismissals to 421 people in the first half of this year.

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According to BRW financial data, sales revenues from 2022 fell from PLN 1.5 billion to PLN 1.3 billion from 2022. The group sold its products mainly to the domestic market (PLN 950 million) and in the EU (PLN 338 million). In the years 2022-2023, the gross loss of the group increased from 38 million to PLN 100 million, net loss from 47 million to 90 million PLN, and average employment fell from 7498 to 6640 people. In 2023, the company did not pay dividends.

The management board explained the deteriorating results of the company with economic uncertainty and macroeconomic situation, including high inflation and high levels interest ratesas well as a raise minimum wagewhich translated into an increase in employee costs.