Munich, May 11, 2022 / Topic: SZenario Oberpolinger: Grand opening of the newly designed fashion floors Rene Benko picture alliance / SZ Photo | Robert Haas
René Benko’s insolvent Signa Group is slowly being split up.
The Signa subsidiary “Laya Group” has now been sold to Serviceplan.
According to Serviceplan CEO Florian Haller, the deal cost several million euros.
René Benko’s company empire is being divided piece by piece. Now Serviceplan, the largest owner-managed communications group in Europe, has completed the purchase of the former Signa subsidiary “Laya Group”, as the “Handelsblatt“ reported.
The Laya Group has 120 employees and generated sales of around 27 million in 2023. She was part of the until the end Signa Group of the Austrian investor René Benko, but he had to file for bankruptcy in March.
Laya earns his money with specialized customer data and is active in retail media. Retail media – the placement of advertisements directly in online shops – is considered the most promising area in the advertising market because customers are already in the mood to buy when they visit the online shops.
“It is the most strategically important investment because we are purchasing a great deal of data expertise so that companies can reach their target groups much more precisely,” says Serviceplan boss Florian Haller to Handelsblatt. The purchase of the former Benko company is investing “multi-digit millions”.
“Retail media is a hype, but one that won’t go away,” explains Adrien Nussenbaum, founder of Mirakl. His company helps retailers such as Douglas, Fressnapf and Media Markt to precisely analyze customer data. It’s a win-win deal. “Manufacturers can use their marketing budget much more precisely because they know exactly which users they are reaching.”
Against this background, the acquisition of the Laya Group by Serviceplan reflects the ongoing change in the advertising industry. Companies are moving away from traditional media towards digital platforms and data-driven advertising strategies. This is also reflected in the forecast that Retail Media will achieve sales of almost 22 billion euros in Europe by 2026.
How successful was Laya?
According to the “Handelsblatt” report, reports from Galeria insiders indicate that Laya’s successes in the retail media sector have so far been limited. There are also questions about Laya’s customer base. Like Benko, Galeria and Sportscheck have filed for bankruptcy and are getting new owners. You are part of Laya’s customer base.
And although the companies have been working in the retail media sector since 2022, full use of customer data was not achieved until the end of 2023. But not much has happened here since the bankruptcy.