Haia supports Catom’s acquisition of 300 bp stations

Haia Group supported Dutch fuel retailer Catom during its 2025 acquisition of bp Netherlands’ Retail business and subsequent IT transition.

The acquisition expanded Catom’s network from around 100 to approximately 400 locations. Through early IT assessment, transition planning and technical implementation, Haia helped Catom take operational control of approximately 300 additional stations within six months. With a small team of specialists and a strategy focused on operational independence from day one, Haia enabled the transition while maintaining business continuity across the acquired network.

The acquisition presented a challenge for Catom, the parent company of OK Nederland. The transaction added approximately 300 retail stations to its network, requiring the acquired business to be separated from bp’s wider operations and prepared for integration into the OK organisation.

Catom partnered with Haia Group to assess the existing IT landscape, determine the technology requirements for the transition and develop a transition strategy. Following the acquisition, Haia continued to support the project through technical implementation and operational handover.

Understanding the IT landscape

Acquiring an established retail network involves more than purchasing physical locations. The buyer also needs to understand which systems and services support daily operations, which can be transitioned and where new solutions may be required.

Haia helped Catom assess bp’s existing IT landscape and identify the technology capabilities essential to maintaining operations under new ownership. Together with Catom, the team determined the requirements for the initial transition and where changes would be needed over time.

Rather than transferring the entire existing IT environment, Haia developed an approach that balanced operational requirements with cost, implementation effort and available resources. This helped Catom make informed decisions about which systems to retain, replace or transition over time.

Taking on 300 stations while keeping operations running

The acquisition presented several operational and technical challenges. Catom needed to take control of the acquired locations while maintaining business continuity and preparing for their eventual integration into the OK network.

The transition involved multiple business-critical retail and operational systems, including point-of-sale (POS), back-office applications, payment acceptance, fleet cards, loyalty solutions and other technologies required to keep the acquired stations operating smoothly.

Unlike a transition that relies heavily on services from the former owner, Catom aimed to take ownership of key business processes from day one. This included B2B invoicing, customer contracts and relationships, HR and payroll, as well as essential financial and operational systems. The approach required careful planning to establish operational independence within a limited timeframe.

One of the most demanding tasks was establishing a separate back-office environment and ensuring that transactions made using third-party fleet cards could be invoiced under Catom’s ownership from the transition date.

The limited execution window added another layer of complexity, requiring close coordination between Catom, bp, Haia and the vendors involved.

From IT architecture to operational implementation

Following the acquisition, Haia formed a small international team of six specialists that worked closely with Catom’s business teams, transition management and the technology vendors involved in the project. Together, they combined expertise in IT architecture, project management, business analysis, testing, ERP and fuel retail technology, with responsibilities shared across Haia, Catom and its vendors throughout the transition.

With the transition strategy in place, Haia translated the agreed requirements into a practical implementation plan, carefully balancing priorities, costs and available resources. Working closely with Catom and the different technology providers, the team identified dependencies between systems, validated data, prepared the necessary changes and tested whether everything would function as intended on the transition date.

"Bringing together the right specialists with relevant fuel retail and technology experience allowed us to execute a complex transition with a relatively small team. Their combined knowledge of fuel retail systems and technology providers helped us make informed decisions and move quickly without compromising business continuity," says Michel Hinfelaar, owner of Haia Group.

First major transition completed within six months

The first major milestone was reached on 1 December 2025, when Catom took operational control of the acquired network.

To enable that transition, Haia helped establish a separate back-office environment for the acquired operations, transfer accounting data to Catom’s ERP system and enable third-party fleet-card invoicing. At the same time, essential station systems and existing payment methods remained operational. Despite the scale of the transition, Catom maintained business continuity across the acquired network, supported by the lean project structure and its decision to take direct control of key business processes from day one.

Preparing for the next phase of integration

Although the first major transition has been completed, further work remains as Catom continues integrating the acquired network and reducing its reliance on bp’s infrastructure and services.

By prioritising essential operations during the initial transition, Haia helped Catom reduce that reliance from the outset. In parallel, Catom and Haia developed a phased strategy for completing the transition away from bp’s remaining services and moving the acquired operations into Catom’s own IT environment. Implementation is already underway, supporting the continued integration of the acquired stations into OK’s existing operations.

What large-scale IT transitions require

The Catom acquisition illustrates how early IT involvement and a carefully planned transition can help fuel retailers manage large-scale expansion. By addressing the operational implications early on and separating immediate requirements from longer-term integration, Haia helped Catom take control of its newly acquired network while laying the groundwork for continued growth and development.

About Haia Group

Haia Group is an independent retail IT consultancy and technology partner specialising in fuel, convenience and mobility retail. The company helps retailers and technology providers shape and deliver technology strategies across complex, multi-vendor environments, from IT architecture and systems integration to migrations, payments and cybersecurity.

Through Haia Consultancy, Academy and Technology, Haia combines industry expertise, technology delivery and knowledge sharing to help organisations modernise their retail IT landscape, maintain operational continuity and prepare for future growth.

With a strong focus on integration, open standards and reducing vendor dependency, Haia helps create more flexible, secure and future-ready retail technology environments.

For more information, visit haia-group.com.