Bidvest Group Limited history, company profile (overview) and corporate video
The Bidvest Group Limited is an international services, trading and distribution company headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa. The group operates in the areas of consumer, pharmaceutical and industrial products, outsourced hard and soft services, financial services, freight management, office and print solutions, travel services, and automotive retailing.
HISTORY
Bidvest was founded in 1988 by Brian Joffe.
In 1988, the company made its first acquisition – Chipkins followed by Sea World, and food services started.
In 1989, Afcom Group was acquired, marking the start of Bidvest Commercial Products.
In 1990, Bid Corporation was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), South Africa, becoming the holding company of Bidvest.
In 1991, Steiner Services was acquired, and the hygiene services business and Bidvest Services were started.
In 1992, Crown Food Holdings was acquired and merged with National Spice to form Crown National.
In 1993, Prestige Cleaning Services was acquired and grouped with Steiner.
In 1993, Safcor was also acquired, and Bidvest Freight was started.
In 1995, Manettas was acquired and renamed Bidvest Australia
In 1997, the company acquired Waltons, which included the Konica Minolta operations, to start Bidvest Office.
1999, Booker Foodservice, Rennies Group and Lithotech were acquired.
In 2000, the banking licence was granted to Rennies Bank, to form Bidvest Financial Services.
In 2000, Crean and Island View Storage were also acquired.
In 2001, mymarket.com, Bidvest’s e-commerce initiative was launched. John Lewis Foodservice was also acquired.
In 2002, Paragon was acquired and merged with Lithotech.
In 2002, Voltex was also acquired, and Bidvest Electical was started.
In 2003, The Bidvest Academy, a Group training and development programme was launched.
In 2004, the company acquired McCarthy, one of South Africa’s largest motor retailers, to form Bidvest Automotive.
In 2005, G Fox was acquired.
In 2006, Deli XL, Top Turf, Execuflora, Versalec, and a controlling stake in HORECA Trade were acquired.
In 2007, Anglis was acquired, and Rennies Bank became Bidvest Bank.
In 2008, Viamax was acquired.
In 2010, Nowaco Group was acquired. The company also expanded services basket through Pureau and Bidtrack acquisitions.
In 2011, Rotolabel and Seafood Holdings, Nowaco Baltics were acquired.
In 2012, Deli Meals was acquired.
In 2013, Home of Living Brands was acquired.
In 2014, Mvelaserve and Academy Brushware were acquired.
In 2015, DAC (Italy); PLC Transport 24/7 (UK), Compendium, and Bush Breaks were acquired.
In 2016, Plumblink and Glassock were acquired.
In 2017, Brandcorp, Technilamp, and Eagle Lightning were acquired.
In 2018, the company acquired Noonan, Bidvest’s first international acquisition.
In 2019, Aquazania and UDS were acquired.
In 2020, Bidvest acquired Future Cleaning to expand Noonan’s UK footprint, and PHS, one of the leading hygiene providers in the U.K., Ireland, and Spain.
In 2021, Axis and Cordant were acquired, making Noonan a facilities manager of scale in the U.K.
In 2022, the company acquired BIC, a facilities manager in Australia.
With more than 130,000 employees, Bidvest Group Ltd. is considered one of South Africa’s largest services, trading and distribution groups. According to Forbes, it is considered one of the Largest Public Companies in the World.
*Information from Forbes.com, Wikipedia.org, and bidvest.co.za
**Video published on YouTube by “Bidvest Group“