“On 23 July 2014 Kingfisher entered into a binding agreement with the principal shareholders of Mr Bricolage to acquire their shareholdings subject to satisfactory antitrust clearance. This agreement made provision that it would lapse if the anti-trust clearance was not obtained by 31 March 2015 although an extension could be agreed by all parties. Kingfisher notes the statement of the ANPF (an organization controlled by Mr Bricolage’s franchisees holding 41.9% of the share capital of Mr Bricolage) dated 27 March 2015 which cites their decision to refuse any extension of the 31 March 2015 deadline,” Kingfisher said in a statement Monday.
“Consequently the transaction will not proceed. Kingfisher is considering all of its options,” the retailer said.
Kingfisher, which bought Bricostore stores in Romania in 2013, announced in April 2014 it had made an offer of EUR275 million to acquire Mr Bricolage, which has three stores in Romania.
In Romania, Kingfisher had sales of GBP68 million (EUR84.3 million) in the first three quarters of the 2014/2015 financial year (February-October) in Romania and a loss of GBP9 million (EUR11.16 million). The loss includes costs of accelerated remodeling of Romanian stores into the Brico Depot format.
The first two remodeled stores were opened in March 2014 and the company said at that time it would speed up the process for the remaining 13 stores. On November 1, 2014, the British group had 15 stores in Romania, with 1,167 employees.
Kingfisher’s main competitors in Romania are Ambient, bauMax, Dedeman, Hornbach, Mr. Bricolage, OBI, Praktiker and Leroy Merlin.