Romanian Dailyhttp://romaniandaily.ro/cat00327fresh business news about Romaniahttp://romaniandaily.ro/cat003272010-07-30T01:05:59+00:00Romanian DailyenGED Capital Buys Dasimpex GSM Retail Chainhttp://romaniandaily.ro/cat00327/art4917874582/ The main seller is businessman Sorin Stoica. The total value of the deal is about 10 million euros, with the takeover targeting five companies, the most important asset of which is Dasimpex SRL.

Dasimpex is one of the top four GSM equipment retail chains on a fast growing market with annual sales in excess of 300 million euros.

Dasimpex doubled its business to 20 million euros last year, as did other operators in the business.

Sorin Stoica, a 37-year-old entrepreneur who invested in mobile telephony-related business, would collect 4-4.5 million euros from GED capital in this transaction.

GED will later spend a further 5 million euros for the development of the store chain, sources on the market say.GED Eastern Fund II, managed by GED Capital, will hold a stake estimated at 60-65 percent of the Dasimpex group, and Sorin Stoica will retain 20 to 25 percemnt, quoted sources add.

Besides GED Capital, another investor to buy into Dasimpex will be Adrian Catalin Breaban, a Dasimpex consultant, who will get 10 percent.Sorin Stoica will remain the manager of the company, according to the latest information available.
 
GED Capital is not the first investment fund to invest in a chain of GSM retail stores. Greek financial investor Global Finance invested in the development of the Germanos network, which last year posted sales of nearly 100 million euros.

The takeover of Dasimpex GSM SRL and of the other companies that are involved in this transaction will be made through an investment vehicle, Kahn International Advisers.

When contacted by ZF, Sorin Stoica would not comment on the deal and would neither verify nor deny the name of the investment fund that he is in talks with.

Dasimpex, an Orange partner (mobile telephony operator), has a chain of 40 stores and posted 14 million-euro turnover last year.

On this market, Euro GSM has 111 stores, Germanos - 104 and Avenir Telecom about 100, with 64 of its locations branded as Internity and the rest as Global Net.

Dasimpex has been the main Orange partner over the last few years, with the partnership dating back to the days when the operator was still called Dialog, Dasimpex officials say.

Stoica controls two other telecom retailers, Lexor and Dasino, which are Vodafone and Zapp partners.

Together, all three companies posted 20 million-euro turnover last year.

Dasimpex officials did not care to specify whether Lexor and Dasino are involved in the deal with the investment fund or not.

The officials of the company would not provide any details on this year's targets, but said the goal to reach 200 stores remained valid. 

At the end of last year, Stoica announced he was in advanced talks to secure a several million-euro capital inflow from a foreign investment fund.

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]]>2006-07-26T09:17:00+00:00Retail (Books&Technology)IulianBulandraAltex Owner Puts 1.5 Mln EUR Into New Bucharest Storehttp://romaniandaily.ro/cat00327/art3551965821/
"The market has been rather difficult, with a notable decline in the first half of the year. However, things have started to pick up and we hope to conclude the second half of the year with a growth of the nature to give us hope," said Ostahie.

Ostahie's business advisor Girolamo Mazzeo said Media Galaxy was the largest supermarket of this kind in Europe, measuring 6,000 square meters. "Supermarket targets the smart buyers, who leave the car home and take the subway to save the money to buy an electronic product and have an average purchasing power," said Ostahie.

The 11th Media Galaxy in the chain carries over 10,000 products, including 70 mobile phone models, 30 digital camera models. 40 plasma TV & LCD models. The store has partnered with Media Galaxy, Euroline (Bancpost), Credex (Raiffeisen Bank) and BCR.

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]]>2006-07-26T09:09:00+00:00Retail (Books&Technology)IulianBulandraQVT increases stake in Flamingo http://romaniandaily.ro/cat00327/art7768064517/
The operation was made in Monday's trading session at the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) and involved the purchase of three million shares at 10 eurocents per share. The American fund has bought 5.85 million shares of Flamingo International since July 20, increasing its share in the IT&C retailer to 13.85 percent from 13.1 percent. QVT Fund also holds shares in the insurance company Asirom and in pharmaceutical company Zentiva.

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]]>2006-07-26T08:41:00+00:00Retail (Books&Technology)IulianBulandraAltex opens new Media Galaxyhttp://romaniandaily.ro/cat00327/art6592028633/   The Romanian retail market will catch up with the European market as late as in 2010, Altex officials say. Ostahie evaluates this year's market at some 700 million euros, less than the 800 million-euro mark overshot in 2005. "The market decline comes as a result of the very high level of consumption driven by loans between 2003-2005, and of the National Bank policy to restrain consumption on credit," Ostahie added. Three months into the year, Altex announced a 47 million-euro turnover, down about 8% from the same time last year. Altex opened a new Media Galaxy store in Bucharest on Friday, which takes up 6,000 square metres, the largest such store in Romania. The other Media Galaxies opened thus far take up 2,000 to 4,000 square metres. The opening was extremely lively, with people taking the store by storm to buy the products whose prices had been cut by 50%. Altex officials did not comment on the sales in the opening day.

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]]>2006-07-24T05:28:00+00:00Retail (Books&Technology)IulianBulandraGED Capital buys Dasimpex GSM retail chainhttp://romaniandaily.ro/cat00327/art1725802999/
The total value of the deal is about 10 million euros, with the takeover targeting five companies, the most important asset of which is Dasimpex SRL

Dasimpex is one of the top four GSM equipment retail chains on a fast growing market with annual sales in excess of 300 million euros. Dasimpex doubled its business to 20 million euros last year, as did other operators in the business.
 
Sorin Stoica, a 37-year-old entrepreneur who invested in mobile telephony-related business, would collect 4-4.5 million euros from GED capital in this transaction. GED will later spend a further 5 million euros for the development of the store chain, sources on the market say.

GED Eastern Fund II, managed by GED Capital, will hold a stake estimated at 60-65% of the Dasimpex group, and Sorin Stoica will retain 20 to 25%, quoted sources add. Besides GED Capital, another investor to buy into Dasimpex will be Adrian Catalin Breaban, a Dasimpex consultant, who will get 10%.

Sorin Stoica will remain the manager of the company, according to the latest information available.

GED Capital is not the first investment fund to invest in a chain of GSM retail stores. Greek financial investor Global Finance invested in the development of the Germanos network, which last year posted sales of nearly 100 million euros.

The takeover of Dasimpex GSM SRL and of the other companies that are involved in this transaction will be made through an investment vehicle, Kahn International Advisers.

When contacted by ZF, Sorin Stoica would not comment on the deal and would neither verify nor deny the name of the investment fund that he is in talks with.

Dasimpex, an Orange partner, has a chain of 40 stores and posted 14 million-euro turnover last year.

On this market, Euro GSM has 111 stores, Germanos - 104 and Avenir Telecom about 100, with 64 of its locations branded as Internity and the rest as Global Net. Dasimpex has been the main Orange partner over the last few years, with the partnership dating back to the days when the operator was still called Dialog, Dasimpex officials say.

Sorin Stoica controls two other telecom retailers, Lexor and Dasino, which are Vodafone and Zapp partners. Together, all three companies posted 20 million-euro turnover last year.

Dasimpex officials did not care to specify whether Lexor and Dasino are involved in the deal with the investment fund or not.

The officials of the company would not provide any details on this year's targets, but said the goal to reach 200 stores remained valid.

GED Capital representatives did not want to comment, either.

At the end of last year, Stoica announced he was in advanced talks to secure a several million-euro capital inflow from a foreign investment fund. However, he did not disclose the name of the fund.

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]]>2006-07-20T06:03:00+00:00Retail (Books&Technology)IulianBulandraOffice equipment business to reach 400m euros in 5 yearshttp://romaniandaily.ro/cat00327/art3841994692/
Stationery products and office supplies now account for about three quarters of the business "outfitting" Romanians' offices. The market is largely made up of consumers who are primarily looking at prices, putting quality second.

Consumption of office supplies/stationery products per "white collar" in the financial-banking sector revolves around 23.5 euros, while in the case of production personnel it stands at approximately 15 euros, reveals a survey conducted by Office Express, a member of the RTC group.
 
We are likely to reach the average monthly consumption rate now registered in Europe, of 20-25 euros per "white collar", in 2010.

At present, there are no statistical data related to the value of the market of office supplies and stationery products in Romania, but the main players put sales of such products at approximately 150 million euros, office furniture not included.

Sales of office furniture now stand at approximately 50 million euros, according to the estimates by market players, who add these may get to 100 million euros in five years.

As companies are constantly announcing expansion plans, the market of stationery products and office supplies can only go up.

Nevertheless, the market will not be considerably influenced by the rising number of office buildings. "The development of office buildings will bring only moderate growth for the moment in terms of our sales. The IT and furniture segment will grow in parallel with the need to equip the new spaces in line with the latest tendencies. The market of stationery products/ office supplies will witness significant growth at the moment major international players enter the Romanian market," believes Sorin Stancu, chairman of the Office Express arm of RTC group.

The market will expand by more than 10% annually, according to the main players.

The distribution of stationery products/office supplies is a fragmented market, with a large number of active companies, while retail is represented by the few specialised stores, by the bookstore and hypermarket networks and by the cash-and-carry networks.

On the other hand, office furniture retail, which started developing particularly after 1990, has witnessed faster growth lately, bolstered by the high number of office buildings delivered onto the market.

At present, the Romanian office furniture market is estimated at approximately 50 million euros. The annual growth pace ranges between 10 and 20%.

The first companies operating on this market were Neoset,  Mobexpert and GreenForest.

Office furniture market

  • Is currently put at approximately 50m euros;
  • The annual growth pace is estimated at over 10%;
  • The most important producers are now Mobexpert Office, Silvarom, GreenForest, Aici Mobilier, The Price International, Neoset Prod Bucharest, ICCO Mobilier together with Norvinia and Eurostar;
  • Office furniture retail started developing after 1990;
  • Is driven forward by the development of A-class office space.
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]]>2006-07-17T06:32:00+00:00Retail (Books&Technology)IulianBulandraFlamingo to get Czech retail manager in Augusthttp://romaniandaily.ro/cat00327/art6414284900/
Jiri Rizek has a 16-year record of management expertise, 12 years of which were spent with Philips and JVC, and the last four with Dixons, one of the leading European electronics, home appliances and IT retail groups, reads a release of Flamingo International sent to the Bucharest Stock Exchange.

Flamingo became the sole partner in Flanco International in mid May, with the total value of the transaction standing at approximately 38 million euros.
 
After the acquisition, Flamingo's net equity capitals amounted to 56 million euros.

"The strategy of the group focuses on the fast-paced development of the retail sector in Romania through new large store concepts. These stores have already achieved success in the specific retail sector in the Western European countries and have had a good start in Central and Eastern European countries like the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary. We believe this is the right time for such a development in Romania, too," stated Flamingo group chairman Dragos Cinca.

Flanco's chief executive, Cornel Marian, told a news conference yesterday that Flamingo wanted to secure a net sales area of more than 60,000 square metres over the next three years, compared with the approximately 36,000 square metres at the moment.

The large stores will be located in Bucharest and other major cities.

Flamingo International posted an 84 million euro turnover last year. Forecasts for this year point to 160 million euros, Flanco results inclusive. Flamingo concluded 2005 with two million euro profit, while Flanco ended with a two million euro loss.

Flamingo officials say the company wants to boost the share of the sales of IT&C products of the total sales in the Flanco network, from 10% at present to 25% by the end of 2007.

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]]>2006-07-11T06:27:00+00:00Retail (Books&Technology)IulianBulandraBRD Finance, Diverta co-branded card http://romaniandaily.ro/cat00327/art5126690886/
The Diverta card also allows its cardholders the possibility to purchase through four-month installment plans any product from its chain of stores, without interest.

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]]>2006-06-28T06:14:00+00:00Retail (Books&Technology)IulianBulandraHalf a million-euro profit for BIC Romaniahttp://romaniandaily.ro/cat00327/art7976685138/
"These results were generated by the growth of the economy in general, as well as by the fact that we have expanded our portfolio," stated Ana-Maria Barsan, financial controller for BIC Romania. She believes the trend will maintain this year, as well. "We anticipate a growth in our turnover and in our profit, especially since we are operating on a market whose current expansion allows for this to happen.

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]]>2006-06-26T07:51:00+00:00Retail (Books&Technology)IulianBulandra ProCa Aims For 100 Mln EUR Saleshttp://romaniandaily.ro/cat00327/art9501517093/
ProCa CEO Cristian Falcutescu said: "Practically, ProCa is the IT distribution division of RTC. We estimate the full-year turnover at some 100 million EUR, equal to about 33 percent of the overall RTC turnover. The reason why we merged the initial 4 companies is that we want to combine our efforts to become the leading IT distributor in Romania."

The company is county on solid partnerships with major international producers such as Philips, LG, BenQ, Genius, AMD. Further development plans include establishing three new regional warehouses and new branches in a bid to increase distribution speed. In the first five months of the year, the company sold over 8,000 PCs, as many displays (of which 55 percent LCDs) and 2,000 laptops.

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