Mercateo has been operating Europe’s largest B2B marketplace since 2000 as well as the B2B networking platform Mercateo Unite since March 2017. The company is active in 14 European countries. Mercateo employs more than 500 employees, 23 of whom are young people in training.
Mercateo was once again able to record profitable growth in the 2017 fiscal year: “We have not only exceeded the impressive quarter of a billion with our sales but also further increased our profitability with a gross profit of over 29 million euros,” explains Peter Ledermann, Co-CEO at Mercateo and in charge of Finance and Human Resources. “We can attribute the turnover increase to what are known as our system customers. These customers have actively chosen us by using relevant Mercateo system functionalities and are also impressed by the strategic orientation of our networking platform Unite.”
In March 2017, Mercateo launched the networking platform Unite, which positions itself neutrally between suppliers and purchasers in the B2B sector. Right in the very first year, it was possible to acquire the world’s leading provider of e-procurement solutions, SAP Ariba, as a partner for an exclusive collaboration with Unite. BIP Investment Partners from Luxembourg are also convinced of Mercateo’s vision: as a strategic investor, the company contributed a double-digit million figure in the middle of the year, thus strengthening the capital base of Mercateo.
“We are naturally delighted about this kind of external confirmation,” says Ledermann. “We would not achieve our goals without our motivated employees. Our team grew to 500 colleagues last year. We were particularly pleased that we were able to fill all of the advertised training positions in August 2017, contrary to the market trend. Mercateo has established itself as an employer and trainer in the market,” says the chairman with satisfaction, and offers an outlook for the new fiscal year: “In 2018, we are planning growth acceleration for the key turnover and earnings figures,” announces Ledermann. “In addition to our core business, we will continue to focus on the further establishment of Unite and will continue to grow profitably.” The company’s international business will also be expanded further. Additional suppliers of e-procurement and ERP systems are also set to be acquired as interface partners.
