Press Release

Trace One announces the acquisition of Eqos

 

November 26, 2009

 

With this acquisition, Trace One, inventor of the first collaborative Internet platform for private label product management, reaches into the non-food sector and opens up the UK market, becoming the European leader in its market.

 

Leader in e-collaborative solutions for managing private label products in food, household cleaning and cosmetics & personal care, Trace One, has acquired Eqos, a UK enterprise, leader in online sourcing solutions for retailers in several sectors (food, non-food, specialized retail). The e-collaborative solutions of the new group will enable retailers in all categories to facilitate the development of their private label products.
In a private label product market undergoing permanent growth (more than 30% market share, by volume, in seven European countries in 2009 ), Trace One is a high-performance player for accelerating innovation, facilitating the development of private label products, reducing time-to-market, managing the information linked to products, and guaranteeing their quality and food safety for the consumer.

 

“This acquisition marks a major step in our mission to provide e-collaborative business platforms for retailers and manufacturers of all sizes, in all categories, throughout the world, for accelerating secured development of their offering in private label products”, declares Jérôme Malavoy, CEO and founder of Trace One. “We are delighted to welcome the Eqos teams, and are convinced that the synergies created through the association of our competencies and our solutions will create real value for all of our clients.”

 

“We are proud to join Trace One,” declares on his side, Mike Quinn, CEO and co-founder of Eqos. “I am convinced that together, we will be able to enrich our technologies and our solutions, continuing to support growth for our clients, retailers and manufacturers of all sizes.”

With consolidated turnover of 20M€ and 140 employees, the new group becomes the European leader in solutions for managing private label products. Its clients include retail leaders in Europe, such as Carrefour, Auchan, Casino, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Carrefour Spain, Eroski, Carrefour Belgium, as well as 6,200 manufacturers in the food and non-food sectors.

 

With this acquisition, Trace One, already established in France and Spain, opens the United Kingdom market, and can now count five offices around the world, in Paris, Madrid, London, Boston, and Hong Kong.

 

About Eqos

Eqos is one of the leading providers of online sourcing solutions for retailers in all categories.

The “on-demand” solutions of Eqos allow its clients to work collaboratively with their trading partners to improve client satisfaction and supplier performance, to accelerate product delivery, and to ensure compliance.

Featured among the clients of Eqos are leaders in retail: Tesco, Sainsbury’s, HMV, and Edcon (South Africa). Created in 1997, the company has offices in London, Boston, and Hong Kong.

 

www.eqos.com

 

About Trace One

Trace One is the European leader in e-collaborative solutions for managing consumer goods products for retailers and manufacturers in all categories.

Created in 2001, Trace One launched the first collaborative online platform in SaaS (Software as a Service) mode for managing the development and quality of private label products.

In 2009, Trace One announced the acquisition of Eqos, a UK enterprise, leader in non-food global sourcing solutions.

Trace One is today the inside partner of retailers and manufacturers to support the development of their private label products and national brands. Trace One’s e-collaborative solutions help to accelerate the development and product innovation, and guarantee quality and food safety.

Trace One’s solutions are adopted by European leading retailers including Auchan, Carrefour Group, Carrefour Spain, Casino, Eroski, Franprix-Leader Price, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, as well as 6200 suppliers in food and non-food sectors, 80% of the private label suppliers to the French market.

Major multinational companies in the FMCG sector also work on Trace One solutions for managing their electronic catalogue: Coca-Cola, Danone, Kraft Foods, L’Oréal, Procter & Gamble, Sara Lee, ...

Trace One Group today has a global presence through its five offices around the world: France, Spain, UK, USA and Hong Kong.

For more information: www.traceone.com

 

About SaaS mode

Software as a Service: SaaS mode proposes a subscription to a program via the web rather than the purchase of a license.  There is then no need to install a desktop application or server. This concept, which appeared at the beginning of the 2000s, is in full development today because it allows flexible, occasional and qualitative access to multiple services for enterprises and their partners.