The deal should be worth EUR70 million to EUR90 million, according to ZF data.
The representatives of the two retailers did not comment on the information by press time.
The acquisition of Billa will enable Carrefour to develop is small format store chain countrywide, where the French-held retailer already has the Market supermarkets (97) and the Express convenience stores (44). Carrefour will thus narrow the gap to small store format rivals Mega Image (more than 400 stores) and Profi (more than 300), the largest networks in Romania’s modern retail sector.
Carrefour is now “on the hunt” because the market leader, German-held Kaufland has left it far behind, getting to EUR1.8 billion revenue last year. Carrefour posted EUR1.2 billion revenue, which puts on the second position among modern retailers in Romania.
Information about Billa being sold to Carrefour surfaced last year, following the sale by the Rewe Group, Billa’s owner, of its Italian operations, which Carrefour took over. The officials of the group at the time said they wanted to focus only on the markets where they held a top position, which is not the case in Romania, where Billa is the smallest retailer second only to Real, which kept four hypermarkets after selling 20 to Auchan.
As consumer spending habits changed in the last few years and Romanian consumers started doing their shopping more often, instead of filing their shopping carts to the brim at a hypermarket on weekends, proximity of the store to their homes has become a significant factor in the purchasing decision. This is why Carrefour entered the supermarket and convenience store chain segment, after pioneering hypermarkets in Romania in 2001.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)