The aim of this study is to investigate where and why the fitness clubs, Sats and Friskis & Svettis in Stockholms county, choose to locate their facilities in certain places and which their primarily targetgroups are. Furthermore, the aim is to gain knowledge of people’s health status in areas where the facilities are located, in order to see if they are located where exercise is most needed. Interviews were conducted with members of the fitness clubs but also with non members, i.e. people who lived in areas with an absence of fitness facilities. Further interviews have been made with managers of the fitness clubs and with two political representatives. The other methods were mapping of the facilities inrelationship to different variables in ArcGIS and field observations. The results of this study show thatthe facilities are mostly located in the central of Stockholm and places where income levels,population density and amount of people working in an area are high. The facilities can also be foundwhere there are large flows of people, for example near commercial centers such as shopping malls.The fitness clubs do not primarily focus on establishing any facilities in places where exercise is mostneeded. The target groups for Friskis & Svettis were both younger and older people and those who wanted to pay a low membership fee while Sats target groups were people aged between 20-50 years and were willing to pay a high price for a membership. Based on price for a membership, availability and what the clubs offers, some people may get excluded from Sats and Friskis & Svettis. Those people mostly live in low status areas and if they eventually would become members of the clubs it would require cheap prices, culture-specific exercise forms and better proximity between the residenceand the facility. Finally, since both the fitness clubs and the political representative’s claims that people everywhere should have the possibility to exercise regardless of their income level and so on, there should be a better interaction between all the actors in order for the clubs to be available to allthe people.

Analýza lokalizačních strategií vybraných maloobchodních řetězců v Praze ABSTRACT This thesis explores the spacial distribution of retail chains within Prague; concentrating on 1) spatial patterns and retail distribution 2) transport accessibility within the vicinity of the store and 3) their proximity to food units. I have discussed the conditions that have shaped the changing face of retail to what it is today. Spatial configuration strategies were used to analyse the distribution of the retail environment. Following this, analysis was conducted at the levels of group, category and individual chains. The results showed retail in Prague was concentrated. However, significant differences were observed within categories and chains. Although food unit coverage is good throughout the city, pockets of areas exist that are not served by a particular store within a preferential distance. Keywords: location strategies, spatial patterns, retail, average nearest neighbor, availability of food outlets

La globalisation des marchés et les mutations de l’environnement économique incitent les entreprises à accélérer leur expansion internationale par le biais de fusions-acquisitions. Si ces opérations de croissance externe présentent des avantages certains, elles ne sont pas sans risque et leurs performances restent contrastées. Cette recherche doctorale porte sur la localisation et la création de valeur des fusions-acquisitions réalisées par des entreprises françaises. L’analyse proposée comporte deux volets : (1) l’étude de l’influence exercée par les caractéristiques du pays de la cible sur le choix de l’acquéreur d’entreprendre des opérations dans les pays matures ou émergents ; (2) l’identification des déterminants de la création de valeur des fusions-acquisitions relatifs aux caractéristiques de l’acquéreur, de la cible et de l’opération, suivant leur localisation. L’étude empirique est fondée sur un échantillon de 395 fusions-acquisitions réalisées entre 2010 et 2012 par des acquéreurs du SBF 120. Les analyses statistiques effectuées (principalement des régressions logistiques et des études d’événements) montrent que les facteurs caractérisant le pays de la cible, et particulièrement la qualité des institutions, sont déterminants dans le choix de l’acquéreur de procéder à des opérations dans des pays matures ou émergents. Les résultats révèlent également que les variables associées à l’acquéreur et à l’opération exercent une influence significative sur la création de valeur des opérations, à la différence des facteurs liés à la cible qui ne semblent pas jouer un rôle majeur. / Market globalization and the evolution of the economic environment motivate companies to accelerate their international expansion through mergers and acquisitions. These external growth operations have important advantages, but they also generate risks and their performance remains mixed. This doctoral research focuses on the location and value creation of mergers and acquisitions conducted by French companies. The presented analysis has two components: (1) studying the influence of the characteristics of the target country on the choice of acquirers to conduct operations in mature or emerging countries; (2) identifying the determinants of value creation of mergers and acquisitions related to the characteristics of the acquirer, the target and the operation, according to their location. The empirical study is based on a sample of 395 operations realized between 2010 and 2012 by acquirers listed on the SBF 120 index. The statistical analysis (mainly logistic regressions and event studies) shows that factors characterizing the target country, particularly the quality of institutions, are determinant for the acquirer’s choice to realize mergers and acquisitions in mature or emerging countries. The results also indicate that variables concerning the acquiring company and the operation have a significant influence on the value creation of mergers and acquisitions, unlike factors associated with the targets, which do not seem to play an essential role.