Heureka Group

Heureka Group
TypePrivate
IndustryE-commerce
PredecessorHeureka.cz
FoundedOctober 2007; 19 years ago (2007-10) (as Heureka.cz)
FounderMiton
Headquarters
Prague
,
Czech Republic
Area served
Central and Eastern Europe
Key peopleDavid Chmelař (CEO)
Services
Owners
Websiteheureka.group

Heureka Group is a Czech e-commerce company that runs price-comparison websites in Central and Eastern Europe. Its services include Heureka.cz in the Czech Republic, Heureka.sk in Slovakia and Árukereső.hu in Hungary. It's active in nine countries and also develops services for online retailers.

The business began with Heureka.cz, a Czech price-comparison website launched in 2007. In 2019, Heureka was separated from Mall Group and became an independent group. Heureka Group is owned equally by PPF Group and EC Investments.

History

Heureka.cz was launched in October 2007 by Czech investment company Miton. The website allowed users to compare products, prices and online retailers. Allegro Group, then owned by South African technology company Naspers, acquired a stake in Heureka in 2008 and took full control in 2012.

Rockaway Capital acquired Heureka and Mall from Naspers in 2015. The transaction, valued at more than €200 million, was financed with backing from Daniel Křetínský, Patrik Tkáč and PPF.

In 2016, Czech online retailer Alza.cz stopped listing its products on Heureka. Alza questioned Heureka's independence because of its ownership links to competing retailers, while Heureka rejected the criticism. Alza returned to the platform in 2022.

Heureka was put up for sale in 2019, with bids reportedly valuing the business at about CZK 7.5 billion. Its owners decided to keep the business and separated Heureka from Mall Group. PPF and EC Investments each held 40% of the company, while Rockaway held 20%.

Heureka acquired Czech e-commerce analytics company Dataweps in 2021 and logistics software company Balíkobot in 2022.

Rockaway sold its 20% stake in Heureka Group in 2023, while PPF and EC Investments each increased their holdings to 50%.

Platforms and services

Heureka's price-comparison websites cover nine Central and Eastern European markets. These are Heureka.cz in the Czech Republic, Heureka.sk in Slovakia, Árukereső.hu in Hungary, Compari.ro in Romania, Pazaruvaj.com in Bulgaria, Ceneje.si in Slovenia, Jeftinije.hr in Croatia, Idealno.rs in Serbia and Idealno.ba in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Heureka also provides services for online retailers. Dataweps develops analytics and automation software. Balíkobot helps online stores exchange shipping data with parcel carriers.

Google litigation

Heureka sued Google for damages related to Google's treatment of rival comparison-shopping services in search results. The Municipal Court in Prague referred questions from the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), seeking guidance on when the limitation period for competition-law damages claims should begin.

In April 2024, the CJEU ruled that the time limit could not start before the infringement had ended and the claimant had enough information to bring a damages claim.

The Municipal Court in Prague ruled in August 2026 that Google should pay Heureka CZK 250 million in damages for lost profit, plus interest estimated at about CZK 150 million. The ruling was not final.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "About us". Heureka Group. Retrieved 29 September 2026.
  2. 1 2 Dočekal, Daniel (29 March 2013). "Miton Media přestává existovat, Heuréku bude provozovat Allegro Group CZ". Lupa.cz (in Czech). Internet Info. Retrieved 29 September 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 Novák, Daniel (1 October 2019). "Srovnávač Heureka se odštěpil od Mall Group, akcionáři zůstali stejní". E15 (in Czech). Czech News Center. Retrieved 29 September 2026.
  4. ↑ "Heureka Group". PPF Group. Retrieved 29 September 2026.
  5. ↑ Kocourek, Jiří (13 October 2008). "Srovnávačům cen se v Česku daří". Lupa.cz (in Czech). Internet Info. Retrieved 29 September 2026.
  6. ↑ Poljakov, Nikita (27 October 2015). "Akce Mall.cz: Křetínský a Tkáč budují internetové impérium. Zároveň utužují spolupráci s PPF". Hospodářské noviny (in Czech). Economia. Retrieved 29 September 2026.
  7. ↑ Slížek, David (26 October 2015). "Je to oficiální: Rockaway Jakuba Havrlanta kupuje Mall a Heureku". Lupa.cz (in Czech). Internet Info. Retrieved 29 September 2026.
  8. ↑ "Alza: Srovnávač cen Heureka není nezávislý, ukončujeme spolupráci". E15 (in Czech). Czech News Center. Czech News Agency. 19 May 2016. Retrieved 29 September 2026.
  9. ↑ Slížek, David (29 June 2022). "Alza je zpět na Heureka.cz. Důvody roztržky už pominuly, říká firma". Lupa.cz (in Czech). Internet Info. Retrieved 29 September 2026.
  10. ↑ "Mall Group prodá Heureku za téměř osm miliard". E15 (in Czech). Czech News Center. Czech News Agency. 13 June 2019. Retrieved 29 September 2026.
  11. 1 2 Novák, Ondřej (18 March 2021). "Heureka Group koupila nástroj na automatizaci procesů v e-shopech Dataweps". Lupa.cz (in Czech). Internet Info. Retrieved 29 September 2026.
  12. 1 2 Slížek, David (25 August 2022). "Heureka.cz kupuje logistickou službu Balíkobot na automatizaci rozesílání balíků". Lupa.cz (in Czech). Internet Info. Retrieved 29 September 2026.
  13. ↑ Mašek, Jaroslav (25 May 2023). "Velká e-shopová rošáda. Rockaway prodává Heureku a Fast do rukou PPF a EC Investments, zároveň posiluje ve Vivantisu". Hospodářské noviny (in Czech). Economia. Retrieved 29 September 2026.
  14. 1 2 "Case C-605/21, Heureka Group". EUR-Lex. European Union. 18 April 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2026.
  15. ↑ Pokorný, Marek (27 August 2026). "Heureka porazila Google. Americký gigant jí má kvůli vytlačování z trhu zaplatit 400 milionů korun". Hospodářské noviny (in Czech). Economia. Retrieved 29 September 2026.
  16. ↑ Fišer, Miloslav (31 August 2026). "Google má zaplatit Heurece 400 milionů korun za vytlačování z trhu". Novinky.cz (in Czech). Borgis. Czech News Agency. Retrieved 29 September 2026.