News & Announcements
05.05.10 Microsoft Seminar Series
BIC is organizing a seminar series jointly with Microsoft with the theme “Restructuring For Companies After The Economic Crisis”. The latest seminar took place on 05.05.2010 and drew great interest from the numerous participants. The topic was “Strategy and Performance Management” and the objective was to show participants how to develop a strategic plan and detailed business planning, what is a financial modelling, the role of KPI's of their company in the most accurate and detailed way,..etc. The second seminar took place respectively on 17.03 and 15.04 and its topic was “Restructuring for Strategic Growth” and “Strategy Planning and Performance Management”. The first seminar took place on 18.02 and drew great interest from the numerous participants. The topic was management accounting. Please contact Duygu Inci for further details. (d.inci@behrendt.com.tr)
01.03.10 Restructuring for Strategic Growth Seminar organized jointly with TABA (Turkish American Business Association)
After the successful restructuring seminar that was realized in Bodrum, BIC is organizing another event with TABA which will take place on 18.03, at 17.30 at The Marmara Hotel Taksim and be followed by a cocktail. The topic will be “Restructuring for Strategic Growth” and remaining effects of the economic crisis in companies will be discussed along with ways to achieve strategic growth in the current economic environment through company restructuring. Please contact Mert Bahadır for an invitation. (m.bahadir@behrendt.com.tr)
15.02.10 Follow BIC on Social Media
With the aim of fostering responsiveness and availability for its clients, BIC started to form prominent existence on social media. Fans in the Facebook BIC fan page are constantly notified about the recent developments and news concerning BIC and they are invited to BIC events. BIC Company profiles in XING and LinkedIn aim to provide a better understanding of BIC’s service offerings and provides enhanced individual communication with our consultants. BIC’s network in those platforms is constantly notified about latest developments in BIC.
11.02.10 Members to Members - Special Seminar Offers for members of the German-Turkish Chamber of Commerce
BIC offers its successful seminar “Cash and Market Risk Management” to members of the German Turkish Chamber of Commerce with a special membership discount. The Cash and Market Risk Management Seminar aims to provide a new perspective on measuring and managing cash flow streams, and measuring and managing the market risk for currencies, interest rates and commodities, which is a precondition for implementing a longterm growth strategy, and for funding the related investments. For more detailed information on the seminars please click here.
22.01.10: The Restructuring Project in Germany’s Rewe Group is completed
Today was the official closing meeting for the restructuring project for the Rewe Group, in which Dr. Behrendt acted as the project manager. With its completion, a turnover of more than 10 bln Euros, 55,000 employees, assets well above 1 bln Euro and around 50 participations in other companies were transferred from two separate legal units within the Rewe Group to a new subsidiary. With this step, all of Rewe’s supermarket business in Germany is now concentrated in only one legal unit, therefore aligning management and legal structure and eliminating complicated legal, personnel and tax issues. With a project budget of nearly 10 Mio Euro, around 100 project teammembers and a duration of more than 18 months, it is the biggest restructuring project BIC has ever handled.
15.01.10: Gratis Board Meeting
The work of Dr. Behrendt as a non-executive board member in Demir Sabanci’s new venture “Gratis” goes on. Gratis can look back on a successful start in 2009 – at the end of 2009, as planned, more than 20 stores were already opened, in a record time of only 3 months the relevant IT systems for store management, goods management, logistics and financials were established, and category management and backoffice functions are already in full swing. For 2010, targets are ambitious again – customers should expect to see a lot more “Gratis” signs within the year.
21.11.09 – The REWE Campus Seminars are completed
Dr. Behrendt was chosen to be one of the lecturers in the corporate university program of the REWE Group in Germany, called REWE Campus, already in the last year. In November, both two-day seminars were conducted for some of the top executives of the REWE Group. The first seminar, “value-based controlling”, focused on the targets and tools the management can use to improve the value of the business with every management decision. The second seminar, just completed at 21.11., dealt with the “financial management of an international retail group”. In this seminar, capital-market based strategies and tools were discussed and applied in extensive case studies.
18.11.09- The BIC Survey About the Handling of the Economic Crisis is Completed
The questionnaire part of the BIC study about the handling of the economic crisis is completed with the valuable contribution from more than 100 companies from various regions in Turkey and belonging to many different sectors such as textile, automotive, metal industry, machine industry and FMCG. The participants answered many questions and expressed their comments regarding the effects of the economic crisis on their companies, the countermeasures they have taken so far, their expectations for the upcoming period and further measures they are intending to take against the remaining effects of the economic crisis. Now an extensive report regarding the results of the survey will be prepared and sent to participants and, afterwards, to other interested parties. The interested participants will also be offered a free analysis meeting for their company .
12.11.09 – “Ten ideas for a value-based Controlling” presented to the board of Gratis
Dr. Behrendt presented “ten ideas for a value-based controlling” to the board of Gratis in the Gratis board meeting at 12.11. The core idea of a value-based controlling, transferring tools and instruments used from investors to value a company into the company, was explained in detail. The most relevant issues in implementing a value-based controlling are the transfer of the company valuation methods into individual departments and groups within the company, and the simple and structured way in which targets and tools are communicated to the responsible managers. The intention is to implement ideas of a value-based controlling within the next three years in Gratis as well.
28.10.09 – BIC completes a “restructuring in recession” project
After already having presented the final results to the Turkish board, BIC presented the findings of its analysis and its suggestions for restructuring to their German shareholders as well. The presentation, covering more than 150 slides and lasting a full day, contained the main findings from the workstreams Financials & Legal, Operations, and Organization & HR. In addition to it, the analayis reports from the three worksteams were handed over.
After discussing the findings in detail, the discussion focused on three alternative restructuring models developed by BIC. For the different alternatives, cash forecasts as well as pro-forma financial statements for the upcoming years were developed and analyzed. After long and fruitful discussions, the shareholders, together with the board of the company, decided for a further capital increase, and for one of the alternatives to restructure the company.
17.10.09 The Businessmen in Bodrum Have Shown Great Interest for “Restructuring for Strategic Growth”
The “Restructuring for Strategic Growth” Seminar that was organized jointly by the Bodrum Chamber of Commerce, Milas Chamber of Commerce, Turkish American Business Association and BIC took place on 17.10 Saturday in the conference hall of Bodrum Chamber of Commerce. The event started with the opening speeches of Uğur Terzioğlu, the chairman of TABA and Mahmut S. Kocadon, the chairman of BODTO and continued with the “Restructuring for Strategic Growth” presentation of Dr.Joachim Behrendt the chairman of BIC Behrendt International Consulting. More than 100 businessmen coming from different sectors have joined the event. In the discussions following the event, the common viewpoint was that the market conditions and business environment have changed significantly after the crisis, that we are now in a time of changes and the only way to take advantage of the current situation and to achieve a long-lasting business success is forming a company strategy that has been radically adopted to the new environment, and a company structure that serves this strategy in every single aspect. Dr. Behrendt, an expert on how companies can achieve strategic growth through restructuring, provided a roadmap for the participants that they can adapt to their own companies.
15.10.09 Ways Strategic Growth İn The Textile Sector – Joint Seminar with ITKIB
The first restructuring for strategic growth seminar that was organized jointly with ITKIB (Istanbul Textile and Apparel Exporter Associations) took place with a crowded participation from the companies in the Textile sector. In Dr. Behrendt’s presentation “Restructuring for Strategic Growth in the Textile Industry”, the remaining effects of the economic crisis in Textile companies were discussed along with ways to achieve strategic growth in the current economic environment for textile companies. The common viewpoint was that it is essential for a textile company to pursue a company strategy that is radically adapted to the current changing economic environment and a company structure that is serving this strategy in every aspect – operations, organization, and of course financials. Dr. Behrendt also shared the successful examples of the textile companies who have achieved this target and helped the participants to determine a roadmap for their own success story.
13.10.09 – BIC visited Dünya Newspaper
Dr. Joachim Behrendt and a team from BIC have visited Dünya Newspaper and have exchanged opinions. Hakan Güldağ, the chief editor of Dünya Gazetesi and Talip Aktaş, the assistant chief editor have evaluated and discussed the effects of the economic crisis on specific sectors in the light of the economic developments. The executives of Dünya Newspaper, a leading member of economic press in Turkey, and consultants from BIC have shared their evaluations and observations based on specific sectors. BIC gave information on sectoral seminars and the most frequently discussed issues by the seminar participants to the executives from Dünya Newspaper. BIC also provided information about the restructuring projects they have realized in Turkey and abroad.
30.09.09- BIC meets another leading business association in Turkey, YASED (International Investors Association of Turkey)
Aware of the fact that communication and coordination with business communities is essential for adding value to management consulting services, BIC continues to get acquainted with the leading business associations in Turkey and explore ways of cooperating with them. After the jointly organized successful “Restructuring for Strategic Growth “seminars with ITKIB (Istanbul Textile and Apparel Exporter Associations) and TABA (Turkish American Business Association), BIC paid a fruitful visit to YASED (International Investors Association of Turkey) and met Mustafa Alper, the General Secretary of YASED, to discuss the results of the latest YASED barometer results in the light of the economic crisis, and future possibilities for a cooperation between BIC and YASED.
19.08.2009: BIC Survey about the Handling of the Economic Crisis
BIC Behrendt International Consulting organized a survey about the Handling of the Economic Crisis. The aim of the study is to evaluate the effects of the economic crisis on companies, the countermeasures taken by executives, expectations for the upcoming period and further measures executives intend to take in order to adopt their company to the expected situation.
Participants of the survey will be sent a detailed report indicating the results of this study , and if they are interested they will be offered a free analysis meeting in which BIC consultants will drill deeper into the results of our study, and make implications on how the findings could be applied to their specific business. Please click here to participate in the survey.
15.6.2009: Opening Press Conference for GRATIS
Sedes Holding, which incorporates many companies like Sedes Sigorta, Odesa Polimer, Doyse Air and Demsa, and is also a joint partner of Electroworld, is entering the cosmetics and convenience items sector with a new brand “Gratis”. Demir Sabancı, the chairman of Sedes Holding, stated that they were planning to open 20 Gratis stores till the end of this year, in the opening press conference for Gratis. Mustafa Altındağ, the general manager of Gratis, said that they were planning to open 5000 stores in 5 years and create jobs for 5000 people. He also underlined that the Gratis stores will offer special imported products, which can only be found in Gratis. Dr. Behrendt is a board member of the Gratis venture, for which the group foresees an investment budget of 100 millions.
13.06.2009 : Summer Party of German-Turkish Chamber of Commerce
For the ninth time, the summer party of the German-Turkish Chamber of Commerce took place in the garden of the former summer residence of the German Consulate in Tarabya. This year, it was the biggest such event ever, with around 570 visitors, some of them coming from Germany just for this event. For BIC, Dr. Behrendt participated, not only meeting a lot of old and new friends and business contacts but enjoying excellent Turkish and German food and wine and, after some musicians, a DJ covering the full spectrum of world and Turkish music. Luckily the event took place on a Saturday so that enough time remained for recovering until Monday morning...
03.06.2009 : BIC Partner Network further extended
After detailed discussions with existing and new partner companies, the BIC partner network is now nearly complete. After initially starting with law office contacts, it contains now one law office specializing in individual and collective labour law, one law office with a focus on insolvency law, and one for corporate and contractual law. For tax and auditing-related issues, a well-known tax advice and audit company was found. Finally, two executive search & selection companies supporting the search for interim managers for restructing projects were found.
With these latest additions, the search for BIC partners is so far completed. However, which type of support from partner companies is needed is eventually defined by the restructuring projects itself, so additional partners may be added if required.
26.05.2009 : Third Restructuring Seminar in Bursa took Place
With its industrial focus on Automotive and Textile, Bursa is considered as one of the cities in Turkey that is mostly affected by the worldwide recession. In order to listen to the businessmen in Bursa in more detail, and to discuss with them the necessary measures to cope with the worldwide recession in all areas of the company, BIC organized the third "Restructuring in the Recession" workshop on 26.05 in Almira Hotel in Bursa. Participants coming mostly from the textiles and automotive industries discussed the subsequent effects of the crisis in their own companies and the best ways to manage these effects. The seminar was accompanied with great interest from Bursa local press. To reach the press coverage about the seminar please visit our BIC in the news page and please check our special seminar page to learn more about the event, and to download a shortened version of the seminar presentation.
20.05.2009 : Rewe Board and Rewe Supervisory Board approves milestone 3
On 12.5., the board of Rewe Group approved the final suggestions for the intended carve-outs of the supermarket and logistics businesses in Germany into a common company. Nearly in time, the low-level design has been completed, the preliminary carve-out financials and carve-out documentation were prepared, and the valuation of the two business units to be carved out had been prepared, defining the proportion of shares to be allocated to the two founding companies within the group. With the approval, the board gave green light to enter phase 4, the decision phase. Having been started already with a first presentation to the supervisory boards at 20.5., phase 4 intends to inform all relevant decisionmakers like supervisory board members, workers councils, shareholders, etc., until the final decisions will be made in extraordinary meetings of the supervisory boards and the general assemblies at the end of August.
25.04.2009 : 50 People attended the second "Restructuring in the Recession" Workshop with German-Turkish Chamber of Commerce
After the first successful workshop about "Restructuring in the Recession", a second workshop took place on 6.5.2009 and was held together with the German-Turkish Chamber of Commerce in the Divan City Hotel in Istanbul. 50 people from member companies of the chamber, operating in various sectors attended the seminar and found a chance to exchange their opinions about the crisis at the cocktail which followed the event. The workshop dealt again with the necessary measures to cope with the worldwide recession in all areas of the company, with a focus on the measures relevant for the "Finance & Legal" workstream. In the discussions, executives agreed that all companies including the relatively small ones, should go through restructuring in order to preserve their competitive advantage in the times of economic downturns.
Please check our special seminar page to learn more about the event, and to download a shortened version of the seminar presentation.
24.04.2009 : Second "Restructuring in the Recession" Workshop with German-Turkish Chamber of Commerce
After its first successful workshop about "Restructuring in the Recession", a second workshop is planned for Wednesday, 6.5.2009. Tihe workshop will again deal with the necessary measures to cope with the worldwide recession in all areas of the company, with a focus on the measures relevant for the "Finance & Legal" workstream. It will be held together with the German-Turkish Chamber of Commerce in the Divan City Hotel in Istanbul, followed by a cocktail.
The seminar will be held in German and Turkish, simultaneous translation will be provided. If you are interested in an invitation, please contact Mert Bahadir(m.bahadir@behrendt.com.tr, Tel. 0212-328 1939).
19.04.2009 : Dr. Behrendt Member of the Board of Demir Sabanci's new Venture
As it could be read in Milliyet, Demir Sabanci is setting up a new venture – "Gratis Iç ve Diş Ticaret", introducing the German "Drogerie"- or drugstore-concept, with a focus on convenience articles, to Turkey. The general manager of the new company will be Mustafa Altındağ, former general manager of Teknosa, Electronic Partner and Media Markt. Dr. Behrendt will be a nonexecutive member of the board.
15.04.2009 : First "Restructuring in the Recession" – Workshop hold in Mövenpick Hotel
With a crowded meeting room and a crowded agenda, the first "Restructuring in the Recession" – workshop by Dr. Behrendt took place at 14.4. in the Mövenpick Hotel in Istanbul. The agenda started with the effects the current crisis in the financial markets, and the subsequent world recession, will have on Turkey and its businesses, before entering into the details of how to cope with it. Differentiating three project phases from "First Aid" to "Cure", numerous tasks and measures in the workstreams "Finance & Legal", "Operations", "Organization & HR" and "Strategy" were outlined and explained alongside practical examples. During the discussion, it became evident that restructuring projects should be managed and executed by an experienced team with members both from outside and inside the company, applying a strict restructuring project management approach.
Please check our special seminar page to learn more about the event, and to download a shortened version of the seminar presentation.
16.3.2009: Restructuring in the Recession – Free Workshop by Dr. Joachim Behrendt
BIC will introduce its new service "restructuring in the recession" in a closed workshop at Tuesday, 14.04.2009, starting at 14.30. After a short presentation by Dr. Behrendt, invited business leaders will discuss the current situation of the economy, its possible effects on Turkish businesses, and possible ways to handle the related challenges. Real-world case studies as well as theoretical findings related to the subject will also be introduced.
If you are interested in an invitation, please contact Mert Bahadir(m.bahadir@behrendt.com.tr, Tel. 0212-328 1939).
15.2.2009: Nexum strengthens its management consulting services
In the last two years, consulting services were the fastest-growing profit center within Nexum. In order to support this development further, Dr. Behrendt and the Nexum management decided to start offering its management consulting services, centering around the areas of accounting, finance, and restructuring, under a new and dedicated brand – BIC Behrendt International Consulting, managed personally by Dr. Behrendt. The business consulting services, focusing on the customization and implementation of ERP and CPM solutions, are continued to be offered in Nexum Boğaziçi.
30.1.2009: Dr. Behrendt in REWE Campus University
MeAlongside with academics from well-known universities such as IESE, Harvard, Kellogg School of Management and MIT, Dr.Behrendt was named as member of the teaching faculty in the REWE Campus University, targeting the top executives of the international retail and tourism group with more than 200,000 employees. Together with Michael Meysing, responsible for group controlling in Rewe, Dr. Behrendt will give a special seminar "Value-Oriented Company Management – Group Controlling for the Implementation of Capital-Market-Based Strategies". A second seminar, run together with Peter Radtke, head of Finance in Rewe, deals with "Financial Management in Multinational Retail Groups".
Download the seminar program (in German)
10.1.2009: Emre Gürül becomes CEO of Nexum Boğaziçi
In order to concentrate fully on the management consulting services, Dr. Behrendt handed over the management of Nexum Boğaziçi to Nexum's longest-serving employee and long-term partner, Emre Gürül.Gürül, starting in Nexum in 2000 even before the first office was established, worked in several positions, covering the areas of project management, account management, sales management, business development, and finally company management, and making him the natural choice for being the successor of Dr. Behrendt.
10.1.2009: Rewe Group: Restructuring project of Rewe enters phase 3
After approval of the low-level design by the board of Rewe Group, the restructuring project for their supermarket activities in Germany, managed by Dr.Behrendt, enters its phase 3. The project aims to transfer all supermarket- related interests in Germany, counting for nearly 10 Billion €, together with all related assets and nearly 10,000 employees from a wide spectrum of group companies and group participations into one single group company. After successful completion of phase 1 (analysis) and phase 2 (high-level design), the Rewe board now gave green light for the project team, consisting of nearly 100 internal and external members under the management of Dr. Behrendt, to continue with the ambitious project. The next milestone, to be reached in the second quarter of 2009, is the completion of the low-level design, alongside with the carve-out documentation, the valuation of the individual business units, the relevant discussion with the fiscal authorities to ensure tax neutrality of the transactions, and the relevant negotiations with worker's councils and unions.
27.11.2008: Growth Rate of Nexum Boğaziçi Has Been Approved Third Times By Deloitte
Nexum Boğaziçi listed in the Deloitte Fast 50 third times upon last 5 years growth rate. The gradation refers to the fastest growing IT companies in Turkey. In addition to that gradation, Deloitte determines the Fast 500 Companies in EMEA for IT industry. Nexum Boğaziçi is in that regional gradation, Deloitte Fast 500 too.
20.10.2008: Saka Cosmetics Expanded its Horizons With Microsoft Navision Implementation by Nexum
Nexum Boğaziçi has performed the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) project for Saka Cosmetics, a leading company in cosmetics sector. The design and implementation of the project was performed by Nexum and the project introduced novel and unique solutions for the retailing industry.
14.08.2008: Maritime Business specific ERP Project Performed by Nexum Boğaziçi
Nexum Boğaziçi carried out the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) project for Sarıoğlu Denizcilik, an active player in maritime business industry. The design and implementation of the project was performed by Nexum Boğaziçi and the project introduced novel and unique solutions for the maritime business industry. The product used in the project was Microsoft Dynamics Navision.
12.04.2008 Pharmasante Chose Nexum Boğaziçi for Business Intelligence
Nexum Boğaziçi enhanced its experience in Health Industry and its expertise in Business Intelligence with a new project. Being Pharmasante's ERP Consultant at the same time, Nexum Boğaziçi is now performing the business Intelligence project with Pharmasante.
02.01.2008 Italian Pharmaceutical Company Chiesi Chose Nexum Boğaziçi
Italian Pharmaceutical company Chiesi chose Nexum Boğaziçi for implementing Microsoft Dynamics Nav solutions for its Turkey operations. Using the rich functionality set of Navision, Nexum was able to complete the project in one month.
