Green & smart in The Hague: APCOA and gCab embark on trailblazing urban mobility project

The Hague/Stuttgart 05 March, 2012 - APCOA, Europe’s leading parking services provider and gCab, the innovative Dutch specialist for environmentally friendly traffic concepts have joined forces to improve the accessibility of the city centre of The Hague. Thought out and developed by gConcepts, gCab will make parking in the Dutch capital a completely new experience. Being an electrically powered vehicle, clean, safe and quiet, gCab has already built a reputation as the new green taxi of the Netherlands.

That helped shaping the new alliance in the Netherlands. From March onward, customers parking at the APCOA Parking Malieveld, can choose transport in a gCab to a location in or around The Hague city centre: e.g. their homes, their offices, their hotels or the station.
This service will be available during opening hours of the APCOA Parking Malieveld. And the good news for APCOA customers: the new service will be rendered free of charge in the first month.
If the pilot project in The Hague will prove successful, the concept will be expanded to other areas of the Netherlands, in order to strengthen the network of environmentally friendly traffic solutions.

Proprietors entrust APCOA with parking space management at new Berlin Brandenburg Airport (Germany). Contract signed.

Stuttgart/Berlin, 21 December 2011 -  APCOA will be managing the car parking facilities at the new Berlin Brandenburg Airport in the German capital. Contracts detailing the parking lease have just been signed in Stuttgart and Berlin respectively. Already back in September the Berlin Airport management had announced that APCOA had submitted  the best offer.

Ralf Bender, APCOA’s Chief Executive Officer, hails this success an affirmation of the APCOA strategy of sustainable, quality growth both in Germany and Europe. “I am glad to see that our Berlin partners consider us a strongly performing service provider at European level in parking space management. This really is a big success for the entire APCOA team.”

Prof. Dr. Rainer Schwarz, Chairman of  the Board of Directors of the Berlin Airports, emphasized that “BER is the airport of short distances. That, too, is true for fast and comfortable travel to and from the airport. And we have about half of our flight passengers arriving for travel in their cars. With APCOA we found management partners for our parking facilities at Berlin Brandenburg, who have already proven at the Berlin Schönefeld airport that they are the reliable partners of choice.”
“With APCOA”, adds Dr Norbert Minhorst, Director Non-Aviation Management of the Berlin Airports, “ we have selected a first-class service provider, featuring Europe- wide experience in airport parking services.”

After the new airport's opening in June 2012, APCOA will be responsible for the management of more than 15,000 parking spaces. As the APCOA Group currently is managing parking services for 30 airports across Europe, the Berlin contract expands its market leadership position further.

Estimates see initial BER passenger capacity at around 27 million. Depending on passenger development, this capacity could be scaled up to 45 million.  Because of its central geographical location, all European destinations can be reached swiftly and easily. Once the new airport will be operative, the entire air traffic of the metropolitan region will be concentrated in the capital’s Southeast.

APCOA donates budget for Christmas presents to cancer aid

Ralf Bender (CEO APCOA Group), right, and Peter Schneck (Managing Director APCOA Germany) are holding the cheque to the German Association For Cancer Aid in their hands. Instead of buying Christmas presents in 2011 APCOA decided to show corporate social responsibility and to donate the budget to charity.

Ralf Bender new CEO of Europe’s Nr. 1

Paris/Stuttgart 20 May, 2011 – APCOA, Europe’s leading parking services provider has appointed Ralf Bender (46) as its new Chief Executive Officer. Bender joined APCOA as CFO in November of 2010. He follows Friedrich Schock, who has left the company to pursue other career options. The company will appoint a new CFO in due course.

Virginie Morgon, Member of the Management Board of the French investor Eurazeo S.A. and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of APCOA: „We are convinced that Ralf is the right man to take the company to the next level.” Bender’s key task is to accelerate APCOA‘ s profitable growth. In 2010, the company generated sales of app. 700m Euro in 18 countries.

Ralf Bender wields many years of experience in the Banking sector and in the real estate and retail industry. Before joining APCOA, he spent the past four years as a CFO for a leading real estate company in the Gulf Region.

The new CEO is enthused by the task ahead: „I am thankful for the trust our proprietors are granting me. It is good to know that for the challenges ahead I can count on a top motivated management team at APCOA.”

About APCOA

APCOA is the leading European parking facility operator and, as a service provider, offers the complete parking package of services for proprietors. The APCOA group currently manages around 1.3 million parking spaces at over 6.000 locations in 18 countries.

About Eurazeo

With more than €4 billion in diversified assets, Eurazeo is one of the leading listed European investment companies. Eurazeo is a shareholder in companies such as ACCOR, APCOA, Europcar, Rexel and ANF Immobiliers.

SKYPARKING.COM – Now Pre Booking Airport Parking Spaces Across Europe

Airports in Austria and Norway join portfolio

The booking platform for pre-booking airport parking spaces, www.skyparking.com, is now marketing parking spaces at airports outside of Germany. Six airports in Austria and Norway joined the booking platform in February 2011. Parking spaces at airports in Graz, Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, Haugesund and Stavanger have all been added to the platform. SKYPARKING is a sales brand of the European parking operators APCOA and EUROPARK.
"The offer to airport operators of marketing airport parking spaces over a neutral platform has finally created an adversary to the so-called off-airport vendors," says Chris Pullen, managing director of the British subsidiary of APCOA.
SKYPARKING.COM increases the travel comfort for their customers. "We also want to clear up the prejudice that parking places close to the terminals are expensive," says Chris Pullen, referring to numerous special offers from airports. Furthermore, booking via the Internet even offers free parking days in the airport car parks. Eight-day trips for example, are charged as one week at many airports represented on SKYPARKING.COM. When booking with SKYPARKING, with the eighth day is free!

New managing director for APCOA Autoparking

Stuttgart, January 2011 - APCOA Autoparking GmbH, Germany’s biggest parking facility operator, is entering the new year with a new managing director: Peter Schneck will be moving from Scheidt & Bachmann, the manufacturer of parking systems technology based in Mönchengladbach, to the Stuttgart parking facility manager. There he will be responsible for new business in Germany and Europe and report directly to the Chair of APCOA Parking Holdings.
After ten years as the head of the international parking specialist Scheidt & Bachmann, Peter Schneck has the know-how for the targeted expansion of his new employer. He will head the German branch as part of a dual leadership team with Volkmar Schott, who is in charge of the Operations Department and the development of central customer relations. The German APCOA Autoparking GmbH is the biggest company in the international APCOA Group.

APCOA takes over pre-booking at Gatwick Airport

London Gatwick, Jan. 2011 – APCOA has undertaken a five year contract to provide London Gatwick Airport with a fully managed pre-booking, yield management and call centre service. The award of this contract, which is the world’s largest airport for car park pre-booking, represents the result of APCOA’s strategic decision to extend the range of products and services it offers.
The new booking engine is a clear five-step process which is now available at www.gatwickairport.com/parking.  The website allows the customer to select and book a car parking space in less than two minutes. It supports customers whose needs change by allowing amendments and cancellations up to 24 hours in advance through the easy to use on-line “Manage My Booking” function. The system is fully integrated with the existing car park equipment also operated by APCOA allowing pre-booked customers a seamless entry and exit from the car park.
Gatwick Airport was aware of the potential for APCOA’s system to grow on-line pre-bookings for parking by providing a bespoke designed and branded solution. The system is also qualified to stimulate additional and new revenues through the cross sell of other products.
“The APCOA solution can enable any airport in the world to pre-book their parking and associated commercial offerings in a cost effective and profitable way“ commented Chris Pullen, Managing Director of APCOA UK. “The successful implementation of pre-booking, pricing and reporting at London Gatwick to an extremely tight timescale shows APCOA’s ability to perform on the largest possible scale”.

APCOA now at Exhibition Centre Salzburg

On January 1st 2010 APCOA Parking Austria took over the management of 3,500 parking spaces at the Exhibition Centre Salzburg, Austria. With more than 400,000 visitors per year the Exhibition Centre has established itself as a highly frequented trade fair location over the last few years.

APCOA already operates the car parks of other important European exhibition centres like Munich or Milan and was able to prevail in the competition thanks to its many years of experience. In 18 European countries APCOA is in charge of car parks at city centres, shopping centres, hospitals, hotels, Park & Ride stations and airports.

APCOA appointed new car park operator of Heathrow Airport

October 15th 2009 – The UK’s leading parking management specialist, APCOA, has been appointed as Heathrow’s dedicated airport parking partner.  The market leader in airport parking parks over 5 million cars a year at UK airports and is well regarded for its knowledge and innovative technology.

With the aim of meeting every passenger need and requirement, Heathrow has a variety of parking services - from traditional long stay parking through to valet and short stay, providing employment for nearly 500 members of staff.

Says Head of Travel Services at BAA, Fraser Brown: “The decision to consolidate and use one airport management specialist will provide a more efficient service and from an environmental perspective, help reduce CO2 emissions.  We are confident this will enable us to offer the best possible experience to our passengers.”

Says APCOA Managing Director Christopher Pullen: “We are delighted to have been appointed Heathrow’s sole parking partner. Parking shapes the first and last impression that passengers have when they travel, so we are really looking forward to providing Heathrow with a progressive service that will address the many needs of its travellers.”

APCOA AWARDED ADNEC PARKING CONTRACT

August 27, 2009 – Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC) has appointed APCOA Parking UK Limited as its car park operator.  From October 1st 2009, APCOA will manage all car park, valet and traffic management operations at ADNEC; this will include the management of 30 on-site digital VMS screens which will inform motorists of car park capacities in real time, significantly improving traffic flow around the car parks.  70 further VMS screens are scheduled for deployment around Abu Dhabi city in the near future.

ADNEC it is making significant enhancements to its two on-site multi-story car parks.  The developments, which include the installation of a pay to park system, a new digital vehicle management system (VMS) and the aesthetic improvement of the car parks are designed to ensure that visitors are directed to the most appropriate car park for their event.

After working closely with the Office of the Brand of Abu Dhabi (OBAD), ADNEC will improve the aesthetics of the car parks by introducing traditional Abu Dhabi inspired colours and imagery.  Each floor will follow a specific theme such as Desert Sun, Skyline, Arabian Gulf, Sunrise, Oasis and other concepts which pay tribute to the rich heritage of the emirate.  The aesthetic improvements will serve a dual purpose, creating a pleasant environment and providing striking imagery and colours which will act as focal points.

 „Filling station of the future”

Cooperation between RWE and APCOA, Europe’s largest car park operator

Essen, 10 June 2009 – The RWE Group and APCOA Autoparking GmbH are entering into a partnership in the area of electric mobility. The two companies are launching a joint roll-out of charging points for electric cars in publicly accessible parking areas. This will make it possible for drivers to recharge their electric vehicles very conveniently, for example while they do the shopping.

Initially, RWE charging points will be set up at 20 APCOA parking facilities in central locations in Berlin, e.g. at Alexanderplatz or at the Brandenburg Gate.

The next step will then be to expand the RWE charging point infrastructure to car parks in other large cities such as Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Munich.

Thomas Veith, Managing Director of APCOA Autoparking GmbH said “electric vehicles will play an important role in mobility in the future. APCOA is purposefully investing in the filling station of the future and is offering its customers pioneering services.”

With this strategic partnership, RWE AG has taken one step further towards its objective of developing a full nationwide network of filling stations for electric vehicles. “We are delighted to have Europe’s market leader in car park operations as a partner in setting up the necessary infrastructure for our charging points. Together, we want to demonstrate to consumers that it will soon be a very simple thing for the general public to recharge their vehicles” said Carolin Reichert, responsible for electric mobility at RWE.

The charging points are being set up in Berlin by RWE and Daimler’s joint pilot project for e-mobility. RWE AG is installing 500 charging points and is using 100 electric Smart cars to test how the public charging infrastructure works as well as examining the driving behaviour of the users. Until 2012, the largest such project in the world will be finding out how e-mobility can be brought onto the street.

Information on APCOA
APCOA is the largest European car park operator and offers facility owners a full service package for parking. This includes operating parking facilities based on leasing or management agreements. The APCOA Group currently manages some 1.2 million individual parking spaces at more than 5,400 locations in 18 European countries.

Information on RWE
The RWE Group is one of the five leading energy utilities in Europe. RWE supplies more than 14 million customers with electricity and 6 million with natural gas. In 2008 the company generated turnover of €49 billion. E-mobility is a strategic area of innovation for RWE.

APCOA operates the biggest parking garage in Frankfurt city centre

Frankfurt, February 26th, 2009 – With the opening of the new shopping centre MyZeil on 26 February 2009 the gates of the parking garage PalaisQuartier also parted. The biggest parking garage in the Frankfurt city centre with 1,390 parking bays is run by APCOA Parking Services GmbH.

MAB Development Deutschland awarded the contract for the management of the parking garage PalaisQuartier to APCOA Parking Services. With this step, MAB Development, one of Europe's leading real estate developers, came down in favour of the biggest European parking garage operator. "In choosing the operator, APCOA's professionalism and experience played a major role," according to Michael Flesch, managing diector of MAB Development Deutschland.
"We are very pleased with the new location directly downtown on the Zeil," reveals Thomas Veith, managing director of APCOA Parking Services, "there is a great demand for affordable parking bays." He expects over 2.000 parking customers a day.

The parking garage PalaisQuartier is the biggest parking garage in Frankfurt's city centre. Located directly in the centre, it can be reached via Große Eschenheimer Straße and the Frankrurter inner city ring road. There are 1.390 parking bays, 900 of them public, on four levels. The underground garage has modern fittings, a spacious design and bright lighting. The four parking levels were named after international metropolitan centres in accordance with the APCOA design handbook.

Apart from the MyZeil shopping centre, the PalaisQuartier, one of the most significant inner city projects in Europe, includes an office tower, a hotel tower and the Thurn and Taxis Palace, rebuilt according to historical models.

Parking garages to become brand

With the help of designers and interior specialists APCOA developed a concept for a clearer and friendlier layout of its parking areas. The European market leader in parking area management is working on the development of a recognisable brand. In the next few years step by step as many as possible of the over 4,100 Apcoa garages in 17 countries in Europe are to be redesigned

Success factor for commercial properties

The company expects a positive response to the investment from property owners with whom the company has concluded lease or management agreements. This is because an attractive parking area is a decisive success factor for commercial properties. For example, a shopping centre: retail trading today is characterised by cut-throat competition. In city centres premium areas have an advantage. "This includes an attractive parking area facility, since the first and last impression a visitor to a shopping area arises in the parking garage," according to Apcoa director Friedrich Schock. Customers prefer to spend their money in places where they can also park in a pleasant environment.

Functionality takes priority

An eye-catching cyan-blue guidance system will in future help visitors to APCOA parking garages to orient themselves. The designers paid particular attention to drivers finding their cars on their return as easily as possible. Stylised big city images, which identify the parking areas, support orientation. For example, Athens represents parking area A, Berlin area B, Cordoba area C and so on. The corresponding signs are up to 1.2 x 1.2 m in size so that they cannot be overlooked.


Icons assist orientation

Stylised representations, so-called icons, of world famous sights of particular cities illustrate the parking areas. The Apcoa slogan "The world of parking" was addressed with these pictures. The parking area "Athens" is identified by the Acropolis and the area "Berlin" by the Brandenburg Gate. The icons are always white on a blue background. In addition, different colours characterise the individual parking levels for better orientation.


Development of a European brand

The consistent colour and logical design of parking areas in Europe is to date rather the exception. To this extent the company expects a high degree of attention on the part of motorists from its clear and functional design and consequently the development of the Apcoa brand. "Motorists will not fail to notice over 4,000 garages with a uniform design," Friedrich Schock affirms.

In this way the owners of the garages save on the expensive development of an interior design concept of their own, according to Friedrich Schock: "As a result, the parking garage obtains status it deserves. It is an important source of income and the building

Chairman Peter Fischer deceased

Surprisingly, long time CEO and current Chairman of the Advisory Board Peter Fischer, passed away on June 27th at the age of 57. For more than 28 years Peter Fischer was on the forefront of APCOA, leading the company to its outstanding success. At first as Managing Director of the local German entity and then as charismatic leader and CEO of the entire group. CEO Friedrich Schock: "APCOA is Peter Fischers lifetime achievement, with his visions he created APCOA to the international enterprise which it is today. We lost an outstanding and charismatic entrepreneur and a good friend who will never be forgotten".

APCOA Switzerland received EPA Award

APCOA Parking Switzerland received in May the prestigious Award from the European Parking Association. The garage "Central Bahn Parking" in Basel got 186 points on a 185 point scale. Additional features offered by the garage which were not listed in the award criteria enabled APCOA Switzerland to exceed the maximum grade of 185 by one point.

Some of those additional features are 24 hours of staff availability, mobile phone and radio reception, daylight in the underground levels, park + ride spaces and trolleys for customers of the nearby train station. APCOA Switzerland is operating garages in the cities of Basel and Biel.

First APCOA garage opened in Turkey

The European parking operator, APCOA, opened this month its first facility in Turkey. The company is now present in 17 European countries. The new parking location is in Istanbul near Besiktas stadium and offers more than 300 spaces to a nearby prime location with trendy shops, offices, hotel and exclusive restaurants. Included for this unique location is a Valet service, which allows the customer to just drop off the car with an APCOA employee.

APCOA to enter the Hungarian market

Stuttgart, As of April 8th APCOA will manage the car park of Ferihegy Airport in Budapest with its 2.500 parking spaces. APCOA is the leading European parking operator, based in Stuttgart, Germany. The company won the official tender end of March. The Hungarian operations will be organized by the Austrian subsidiary in Vienna. The APCOA group is now present in 16 countries and planning to expand further into Europe.

Eurazeo agrees to acquire APCOA, the leading pan-European parking operator, from Investcorp for €885 million

Eurazeo today announced that it has reached an agreement with Investcorp, the global alternative asset manager, to acquire APCOA, the leading pan-European manager of parking services, for an enterprise value of €885 million. The closing of the transaction, subject to the relevant competition authority approval, should take place during the second quarter of 2007.

APCOA has operations in 13 countries, primarily Germany, Great Britain and Scandinavia. The group manages more than 3,300 car parks providing some 725,000 car parking spaces, and employs a 2,900 staff. It manages town centre car parks as well as shopping centre, airport and hospital parking.

In 2006 APCOA had sales of €489 million, up 7% on 2005.

Patrick Sayer, chairman of the Eurazeo Executive Board, said: "We are delighted to have reached an agreement to acquire APCOA, which demonstrates our ability to carry out large transactions outside France. This investment confirms our interest in the German market, where APCOA is the leading operator."

Xavier Marin, member of the Eurazeo Executive Board added: "APCOA enjoys excellent operational performance. It benefits from major advantages which have allowed it to become the leading pan-European parking operator based on the commitment of its people, expertise, brand recognition and quality locations. We will be working with the management to pursue this growth strategy and to further the group's development in areas of Europe where it is not yet present."

Thilo Sautter, head of the German private equity practice at Investcorp: "We are delighted with the sale of APCOA to Eurazeo, after having led the successful transformation of APCOA to the leading European car park operator. Eurazeo is an excellent shareholder for APCOA and will provide APCOA with the necessary resources to continue the international expansion and support the growth strategy initiated under Investcorp's stewardship."

Peter Fischer, CEO of APCOA, said: "Over the past three years we have, together with Investcorp, developed and implemented a successful strategy to become the leading European car park operator. This is just the start. With the support, long term orientation and strong financial backing of Eurazeo we look forward to continuing the successful strategy implemented since 2004 and to realizing the full potential of international growth opportunities for APCOA. Our portfolio is well suited for selective bolton acquisitions and our network will benefit from expansion into new markets."

About Eurazeo

With more than €6 billion in diversified assets and a market capitalisation of €5.8 billion, Eurazeo is one of the leading listed European investment companies. Eurazeo is a majority or key shareholder in companies such as Europcar, Rexel, B&B Hôtels and ANF. Eurazeo also holds significant stakes in Danone, Véolia and Air Liquide. Eurazeo is quoted on Eurolist by Euronext Paris (code ISIN: FR0000121121, code Bloomberg: RF FP, code Reuters: EURA.PA).