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GfK Group Expanding in East and Africa

DUBAI - With the acquisition of an existing company and the establishment of two new ones, the GfK Group is expanding its commitment to the Middle East/Africa region (MEA). The companies will be integrated within the custom research sector, according to a Press statement.

The GfK Group acquired a 74 per cent majority stake in the Egyptian consumer research company, Market Insight, as of November 2008. The company has been active in the region since 1987 and has been GfK’s preferred partner for some years. The company operates under the name GfK Egypt.

In 2008, the company, which has a staff of 40, recorded sales amounting to around €1.3 million. Dr Mansour El Ganady will continue to manage the institute, which was consolidated on January 1, 2009.

GfK Egypt is among the leading research organisations in the Middle East and North Africa and offers research and consultancy services in the field of custom research, in particular for telecommunications, food industry, finance and real estate, retail and pharmaceuticals. Major clients include Mobinil, Mercedes Benz, Pizza Hut, National Bank of Egypt and Credit Agricole.

In line with the GfK tradition of combining practical market research with academic knowledge, GfK Egypt, in co-operation with the Arab Academy, has established the first market research study course culminating in an MBA in the region.

In this way, by training highly-qualified young professionals, the company is backing Arab society in general, as well as the market research industry in particular.

In order to exploit the growth potential in the Middle East region, GfK recently established a joint venture with the Median Group under the name of GfK Custom Research Middle East Holding, in which GfK holds a 51 per cent stake.

The two new companies, GfK Custom Research Dubai and GfK Custom Research KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), will commence business operations in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia this month under this umbrella. GfK is already involved in numerous projects in the custom research sector in this region.

In future, these new companies will enable GfK to offer its surveys directly for their own account and in this way provide clients an even more efficient service.

Ranabir Sen and Tilak Mukherji will manage the Dubai company as managing directors, with Adil Ali M. Al Najaei appointed as managing director in Saudi Arabia. All three have many years of experience in managing research organisations in the Middle East and Asian region.

The GfK Group is the No. 4 market research organisation worldwide. Its activities cover the three business sectors of custom research, retail and technology and media. The group has 115 companies operating in more than 100 countries. Of a total of approximately 10,000 employees, more than 80 per cent are based outside Germany.

business@khaleejtimes.com