Product Code Database
Gategroup is a Switzerland company providing services to the travel industry, including catering, onboard retail, food service provisioning, and food logistics. It serves as the parent company for four core brands, and is a supplier to many major airlines. Its head office is in Glattbrugg, Switzerland, near Zurich Airport.
The company was worth roughly 6 billion Swiss francs before the September 11 attacks and the bankruptcy of Swissair. The rise of oil prices and collapse in consumer travel damaged airlines and many of Gate Gourmet's main customers went bankrupt or narrowly avoided bankruptcy. The weakness of the airlines affected the industries that cater to or support it. This set the stage for Gate Gourmet requiring a restructuring effort, which soon burdened its employees. The company was then sold in 2002 to Texas Pacific Group for US$870 million.
On September 27, 2007, Gate Gourmet acquired a UK-based group operating under the Fernley and International Aviation Services (IAS) brands. The acquired companies offer services including aircraft cabin cleaning, aircraft washing, de-icing and toilet and water servicing; security activities such as baggage screening and document verification; airport executive lounges; and passenger services such as wheelchair and unaccompanied minor assistance. Along with Fernley and IAS, the group also includes Specialist Airport Services, European Airport Services and Airfield Services Ltd. The companies operate primarily in the UK, including at London's Heathrow Airport, Gatwick Airport, Stansted and Luton Airport airports, as well as Manchester, Dublin, Cork, Shannon, Liverpool, East Midlands, Biggin Hill and Glasgow. European Airport Services also operates in Amsterdam; Brussels, and several other regional airports in France and the Netherlands. The new range of Gate Gourmet's aviation special services were renamed Gate Aviation Services.
In May 2009, Gategroup was listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange under ticker GATE.
In 2010, the company acquired Cara Airline Solutions, the catering business from Cara Operations, thus investing in airline catering services in Canada.
In 2012, Gategroup expanded its presence in the Asia-Pacific by acquiring two of Qantas' QCatering flight kitchens, the Riverside kitchen in Sydney and the entire Cairns operation. The Riverside kitchen in Sydney operated as a third-party provider to other airlines and did not include QANTAS flight operations and should not be confused with the QCatering centre located at Sydney airport, now operated by DNATA.
In 2013, Gate Gourmet acquired the business activities of Pacific Flight Catering in New Zealand.
In February 2016, the acquisition of Sweden travel retail specialist Inflight Service Group (IFS) was completed.
In March 2016, Gategroup acquired 75% of Cambodia Air Catering Services.
In January 2017, Gategroup acquired control of Servair from Air France, adding a major presence in Africa.
Gategroup was delisted from the SIX Swiss Exchange in April 2017.
In February 2018, gategroup co-founded the Airline Catering Association (ACA), which is based in Brussels, Belgium.
In July 2018, Temasek Holdings and RRJ Capital joined HNA Group as investors in Gategroup.
In April 2019, RRJ Capital completed the acquisition of all outstanding shares in gategroup from HNA Group. As a result, RRJ Capital became the sole shareholder and Temasek was invested in gategroup through a mandatory exchangeable bond. In September 2019, Temasek converted the mandatory exchangeable bond to acquire 50% stake in gategroup, making Temasek and RRJ co-shareholders.
In December 2019, gategroup reached an agreement for a takeover of the European business of Lufthansa subsidiary LSG Group, to include LSG's on-board operating business in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Spain, as well as its global equipment business under the Spiriant brand, its European convenience food business, train catering, lounges and Lufthansa employee markets under the Ringeltaube brand. Gategroup will take on the catering contract with Lufthansa, including the airline's main hubs in Frankfurt and Munich. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2020.
On December 2, 2020, Gategroup announced the completion of the acquisition of LSG Group's European business from Deutsche Lufthansa AG. The transaction includes LSG's in-flight catering operations in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Spain, as well as the global equipment business under the SPIRIANT brand, as well as the European convenience food business under the brand Evertaste, the Ringeltaube brand retail operations, and train catering and lounges.
Gategroup has four core brands: deSter, Gate Gourmet, gateretail and Servair.
Several workers alleged that Gate Gourmet had engineered the dispute to employ non-union workers at lower wages and with worse conditions of employment. The company subsequently offered a redundancy package of more than twice the statutory minimum in an effort to resolve the labour difficulties, secure a new deal with British Airways, and avoid insolvency. The union later negotiated the reinstatement of some of the employees, but others have continued to protest at their treatment.
In a separate 2005 incident, unions representing Gate Gourmet employees in the United States successfully sued the company after it tried to eliminate the employees' healthcare benefits.
|
|
