BCG in Budapest works with both international and local clients in the converging economies of Central and Eastern Europe. Our projects include a variety of exciting topics, including the development of growth strategies, merger and acquisition assistance, valuations and reorganization. BCG Budapest's client roster includes the region's leading companies in the energy, telecommunications, financial services, industrial goods, and transportation sectors.
The Budapest team has made a significant impact in the telecommunications industry, where it has supported the region's leading operators in strategic planning and budgeting, large-scale rebranding, and the implementation of procurement strategies.
BCG in Budapest's recent work has been also extensive in the financial services sector, with projects ranging from developing retail strategies to creating balanced scorecards and redesigning organizations. Most recently, BCG in Budapest developed a retail strategy for a major Hungarian bank, in an effort to support accelerated growth in a highly competitive environment.
Our consultants have also supported energy companies in preparing for market opening and deregulation, through corporate and trading strategies, pricing, and organizational redesign.
Dynamic markets in Central and Eastern Europe provide an entrepreneurial environment that strongly resonates at BCG in Budapest. The office also supports international engagements, providing an opportunity for its team members to gain exposure to other markets and cultures through projects abroad. In all that we do, combining work and fun contributes to the success of projects, clients, and employees.
Read our impact stories
Energy
One of our clients, a CEE company traditionally active in the power business, was looking for growth potential. After setting up a short list, entry in the gas market was identified as the most promising opportunity. In order to succeed, three conditions steps were necessary:
Prepare a clear strategic recommendation and gather shareholder’s agreement
Detail strategy, in particular identify target segments and develop offers
Implement strategy: set up organization and processes
BCG suported the client throughout all of these steps and just after three months the company was ready to enter the market. Thanks to the well designed strategy and implementation, the client achieved 25% market share in its key target segments after only one year of presence.
Building on this success the client is planning to expand to other segments with BCG’s participation.
Technology, Media and Telecom
Partially based on its long-standing trusted advisor relationship BCG was selected to evaluate the opportunity to rebrand a leading CEE mobile operator. The local operator was a market leader with very strong brand recognition, but was facing increasing competitive headwinds. BCG worked together with both the local management and the management of the international parent company to carefully assess the strategic considerations and expected impact of a rebranding and associated repositioning of the company. BCG’s final recommendation was to perform a “big bang” rebranding and BCG was selected to create the rebranding “blueprint” and also support the implementation. The results of the engagement were very impressive, all the brand and market share related objectives were surpassed, and it was considered the most successful rebranding of the parent company.
Transportation
As a consequence of EU accession governments had to separate state owned integrated railway companies into subsidized and purely market divisions, and had to grant access to the network infrastructure in order to comply with EU requirements. This has created a new environment in which new strategies for each of the elements of the railway system had to be defined.
One CEE country has decided that the purely market focused cargo division was not a strategic asset it wanted to hold on to and embarked on a privatization procedure. In a public procurement tender BCG was selected as part of a consortium to help manage the process and execute the transaction on the sell side. During the assignment we have designed and helped to implement several measures to maximize the value of the cargo division.
This was the first successful railway cargo privatization in the CEE region, it has been a complete success, generating record income for the selling party.
Financial Institutions
Our client, one of Europe’s leading insurers, approached BCG about an entry into the banking market. The project started from scratch, assessing the status of the market and the possibilities for a new entrant. Then, a detailed study about the geographical scope, product line and targeted market has been worked out. Key questions such as shared or separate governance were answered. Finally synergies between insurance services and banking services were exploited.
BCG also participated in the implementation of the IT infrastructure of the new company. The launch was a complete success and the bank is enjoying a continuously strengthening presence on the market today.