Rabobank and
De Lage Landen offices
also support each other
outside the Netherlands
RaDO
'Rabobank's foreign offices are happy to see us arriving', as-
sumes Managing Director Ton Toebosch of the financial services
company De Lage Landen. 'Our products are striking enough to
stand out from others internationally. When the manager of a
Rabobank branch abroad goes to a potential customer, he can
say: 'Have you ever thought of leasing or factoring as a financing
solution?' That is an easy way in, which wili probably lead to a re-
lationship.'
De Lage Landen opts for sponsoring
Issue 8/December 17, 1990 band
According to Toebosch the problem
for Rabobank's foreign offices in
the starting-up phase is that they
cannot easily acquire a sufficiently profit-
able clientèle to cover the costs of their pri-
mary task, namely providing support to the
home country in the country abroad. 'To put
it in black-and-white, they often have to
make do with offering money at a price
which can scarcely compete with that of
other iocal banks.' According to the financial
services manager, De Lage Landen's prod
ucts can make a Rabobank abroad more at-
tractive to future customers: 'On the other
In the years to come sponsoring will be the spearhead of De Lage Landen's
communication policy. This year DLL entered into agreements for one of the Dutch
orchestras, the Dutch industrial hockey competition and with Jumping Indoor Maas
tricht, an equestrian event of an international stature.
DLL's sponsoring activities are focused on art, classical music and sports and aim to
increase its name and branch recognition as well as further establish its image. Another
important factor in the choice of the sponsoring activities are the possibilities offered
by such activities for account management. The Ecu Prix at Jumping Indoor Maastricht,
was sponsored because of these possibilities. During the show jumping competition a
conference was held for the company's major customers on the future of the Ecu.
The Ecu Prix makes it possible for De Lage Landen to engage in sponsoring at the
international level. In the coming years similar prizes wili be awarded in the European
cities where DLL has branches.
The Managing Director of De Lage Landen: 'We
have the feeling that we are very welcome there.
hand, a Rabobank branch like this has more
expertise in the general banking fieid and
also in the relevant Iocal market, because it
has generally been established there long-
er. In that way, Rabobank and De Lage
Landen give each other a helping hand out
side the Netherlands. We have the pleasant
feeling that we are very welcome there, be
cause we bring in something extra and are
not regarded as a kind of competitor.'
Import and export flow De Lage Lan
den is represented by six subsidiaries out
side the Netherlands. In Belgium, Germany,
the United Kingdom, France, Italy and - real-
ly far away from home - in Hong Kong. By
1992 at the latest De Lage Landen also in-
tends to have a branch in Spain. Europe is
the most obvious area for expansion, be
cause the largest import and export flows
both from and to the Netherlands are routed
via the countries of Europe. DLL's Hong
Kong Branch is shared with that of Rabo
bank. De Lage Landen regards Hong Kong
as an experiment. 'We are examining
whether it is useful to have an office that
can serve companies exporting from Hong
Kong to Europe', says Toebosch. 'Here we
are particularly thinking of services in the
area of factoring, monitoring debts and tak
ing over payment risks. The Far East sees
Europe as being more or iess one country.
So if you are iocated in many European
countries, you can easily act on behalf of a
company from the Far East.'
Structural change It may be that in
South-East Asia they regard Europe as one
single entity, but in Europe itself work is still
going on to achieve that. Nevertheless, it is
certain that the business frontiers will large-
ly disappear after 1992. De Lage Landen is
on the threshold of an extensive change in
structure aimed at making the group more
responsive in the approaching European
market. In broad outiine, the organizational
adjustment means that De Lage Landen wili
set up a small international holding com
pany, with the Netherlands becoming one of
the seven countries in which it is estab
lished.
Operating companies In every country
there will be two operating companies or
groups of operating companies: one for all
the leasing activities and one for all the
cash management activities - everything
concerned with current assets. The leasing
group includes the operating companies
such as car leasing, equipment leasing,
real estate leasing and vendor leasing. The
cash management group has operating
companies for factoring and debt collection.
Ton Toebosch presents De Lage Landen Ecu Prix to the winner, Jos Lansink, rider of Optiebeurs
Libero H.
