Business overview
Albert Heijn Arena
This arena, headquartered in Zaandam, the Netherlands,
is comprised primarily of the following entities:
Albert Heijn B.V. ("Albert Heijn"), established in 1887,
which operates retail food stores and has a market area
consisting of the Netherlands. Albert Heijn also operates
Albert, an internet-based home shopping and grocery
delivery service.
Gall Gall B.V. ("Gall Gall"), acquired in 1974, which
operates wine and liquor stores in the Netherlands.
Etos B.V. ("Etos"), acquired in 1974, which operates
stores specializing in health and beauty care in
the Netherlands and, at selected locations,
prescription drugs.
Ahold Coffee Company B.V. ("ACC"), acquired in 1971,
which supplies coffee mainly to Ahold's subsidiaries and
joint ventures.
Central Europe Arena
This arena, headquartered in Prague, the Czech Republic,
operates retail food stores under the Hypernova and Albert
brands and is comprised primarily of the following entities:
Ahold Czech Republic, a.s., established in 1991, which
has a market area consisting of the Czech Republic.
Ahold Polska Sp. z o.o., established as a joint venture in
1995 and acquired fully in 1999, which has a market area
consisting of Poland.
Ahold Retail Slovakia, k.s., established in 2001, which
has a market area consisting of Slovakia.
In November 2006, Ahold announced its decision to divest
retail operations in Poland and Slovakia. On December 4,
2006, the Com pany announced agreement for the sale of its
Polish retail operations to Carrefour. The Company expects to
close this transaction with Carrefour mid-year 2007, subject
to meeting certain conditions, including anti-trust approval.
As a result, Poland has been classified as a discontinued
operation and its results are excluded from operating income.
Schuitema
Ahold acquired a 73.2 percent interest in Schuitema N.V.
("Schuitema") in 1988. Schuitema, headquartered in
Amersfoort, the Netherlands, is a retail and wholesale
company that owns and operates retail food stores and
provides retail support services to independent retailers and
associated stores operating under the trade name "C1000."
Schuitema services the Dutch market.
Foodservice business
U.S. Foodservice
U.S. Foodservice, acquired in 2000 and headquartered
in Columbia, Maryland, is the second largest foodservice
distributor in the United States. U.S. Foodservice's
operations cover a geographic area in which over 95 percent
of the U.S. population resides. U.S. Foodservice provides
food and related products and services to independent
restaurants, healthcare providers, hospitality customers,
large chain restaurants and other foodservice customers.
Following the 2006 strategic review, the Company decided
to divest U.S. Foodservice and complete its exit from the
foodservice industry in order to concentrate its attention
on its core retail businesses.
Group Support Office
Group Support Office activities include:
Ahold Group Support Office, comprised of the Company's
corporate headquarters in Amsterdam, the Netherlands
and U.S. offices in Braintree, Massachusetts.
Ahold Finance Group (Suisse), located in Geneva,
Switzerland, which provides treasury operations and
related control and corporate functions.
Joint ventures and associates
Ahold has interests in other food retail operations through
investments in joint ventures, the most significant of which
are ICA AB and Jerónimo Martins Retail.
ICA AB
In April 2000, Ahold acquired a 50 percent partnership
stake in ICA AB ("ICA"), which in turn owns the ICA group.
In November 2004, the Company increased its stake in ICA
to 60 percent. The other 40 percent stake in ICA is held by
Hakon Invest AB, a Swedish company listed on the
Stockholm Stock Exchange. Under the shareholders'
agreement with Hakon Invest AB, Ahold's 60 percent
shareholding stake in ICA does not entitle it to unilateral
decision making authority over ICA, because the agreement
provides that strategic, financial and operational decisions
will be made only on the basis of mutual consent.
ICA is an integrated food retail and wholesale group,
headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. As of December 31,
2006, ICA served over 2,200 retailer-owned and company-
operated retail food stores in Sweden, Norway and the Baltic
States. ICA also provides limited consumer financial services
in Sweden through its bank.
Jerónimo Martins Retail
In 1992, Ahold became a 49 percent partner in Jerónimo
Martins Retail ("JMR") with Gestao de Empresas de Retalho,
SGPS, S.A. JMR, headquartered in Lisbon, Portugal,
owned and operated approximately 240 retail food stores
in Portugal as of December 31, 2006, trading under the
brand names Pingo Doce and Feira Nova. Under the terms
of Ahold's shareholders' agreement, the Company shares
equal voting power in JMR with Gestao de Empresas de
Retalho, SGPS, S.A.
Following the 2006 strategic review, Ahold announced
its intention to divest its stake in JMR.
38 Ahold Annual Report 2006
