1.4 Milestones

2010 Creation of Edenred

On June 29, 2010, the Extraordinary General Meeting of Accor shareholders approved the demerger of the Hotels and Services businesses, leading to the creation of Edenred, listed on the Paris stock exchange as part of the CAC Next 20 index.

Since its formation, Edenred has pursued a targeted acquisitions strategy in its core business, and has carried out a strategic review of its portfolio.

In October 2016, Edenred implemented a strategic plan, Fast Forward, whose aim is to speed up the Group’s transformation by 2020, while laying the foundations for new sources of sustainable and profitable growth.

In October 2019, Edenred unveiled a new strategic plan called Next Frontier, which leverages the unique nature of the Group’s platform model to transform Edenred into the everyday companion for people at work.

 

Main acquisitions over the past three years

  • January 2019: Edenred signed an agreement for the dual acquisition of Merits & Benefits and Ekivita, market leaders in employee engagement platforms in Belgium;
  • May 2019: Edenred acquired Italian employee engagement platform Easy Welfare;
  • July 2019: Edenred acquired Benefit Online, a Romanian employee engagement platform;
  • September 2019: Edenred signed an agreement to acquire EBV Finance, a Lithuanian company specialized in tax refunds for European transportation companies;
  • January 2020: Edenred strengthened its leadership position in the United Arab Emirates payroll cards market with the acquisition of the payroll card portfolio of Mint;
  • May 2020: Edenred became the owner of 100% of UTA;
  • May 2020: Edenred strengthened its position in the Brazilian market with the acquisition of employee benefits operations from Cooper Card.

 

Joint ventures and alliances over the past three years

  • February 2019: Edenred launched its Corporate Payment Services offer in Africa with Jumia Travel, Africa’s top online hotel booking portal;
  • July 2019: Edenred joined forces with Swave, the French platform dedicated to innovation in financial services (fintech, insurtech and paytech), which was founded in 2017 at the initiative of the French State;
  • March 2021: Sage expanded its partnership with Edenred subsidiary Corporate Spending Innovations to deliver a new Vendor Payments offering in the United States;
  • July 2021: Gecina, Europe’s leading office real estate company, and Edenred, the world leader in specific-purpose payment solutions, joined forces to make the lunchtime experience more flexible for YouFirst brand clients, thanks to the Ticket Restaurant.

 

Disposals over the past three years

None.

For more information about acquisitions, development projects and disposals in 2021, see Chapter 7, Note 2 to the consolidated financial statements, page 247.