German-Austrian alliance

With effect from 1 January 2007, Hagebau Austria of Brunn am Gebirge is to bring its entire retail activities under the umbrella of the Zeus Zentrale für Einkauf und Service of Soltau, Germany, which will subsequently take care of buying, distribution sales/marketing and planning for the 54 Austrian Hagebaumarkt outlets. Hagebau Austria will be bringing centrally-invoiced sales of € 120 mio to Zeus. This will result in the purchasing volume of Zeus expanding to € 1.63 bn, and the Hagebaumarkt System increasing its number of stores throughout Europe to a total of 340.