“In five years, La Fantana has to be a strong regional player and climb one position in the ranking, namely I want us to be number two in CEE. I believe in five years we will become number two in this region and we will be a strategic player,” Cristian Amza, the one who set up the business in 2000, said in an interview with ZF.
The entrepreneur took to business after the 1989 Revolution first in the beverage industry. Until 2000, the plant he owned produced natural juices under Suzzane brand, as well as under brands Santal (owned by Parmalat) and Prigat, belonging to international giant PepsiCo, before the two international players started producing domestically.
After the contract with Parmalat ended, the entrepreneur sold all the equipment and started mineral water production. “I can say I had an idea and the opportunity was really there as the water cooler system did not exist in Romania. Virtually, I am the one who in 2000 set up Aqua Natural company and brought this system in Romania,” said Amza.
One year after he set up Aqua Natural, Amza teamed up with Oresa Ventures investment fund, which took over 80% in stock. The company changed its name to La Fantana and opened a new production unit in Bucharest.
In 2003, La Fantana started expanded regionally as well and entered the Serbian market. Beside the units of Romania and Serbia, the company also operates a production facility in Talmaciu, Sibiu county.
In 2007, Poland’s investment fund Innova Capital took over 92% in La Fantana. The rest of stock is held by Cristian Amza.
Recently, La Fantana has acquired Blue Coffee Service, the distributor of Lavazza coffee in Romania. The acquisition is not the only one the producer has sealed so far. In 2011, La Fantana bought Rokor company, which held water purifiers in its portfolio.
“I had been mulling this market for several years to start providing this service to companies. Now, the opportunity has arisen as Aquila owners wanted to sell Lavazza distributor. I had looked at all the companies and I even planned to start a greenfield investment with our own coffee brand had I not managed to acquire an already existent player,” says Amza.
The entrepreneur says a business consolidation process will be under way on the short term. “On the short term (1.5-2 years) we will make no investment in the region. We must consolidate and integrate what we bought. On the medium term, as we are a regional player and want to strengthen our position, we plan to expand to other countries of southeastern Europe,” adds the manager.
Cristian Amza says Innova Capital will sell its stake in the company, but this will happen only when the fund finds an interesting opportunity.
“Now, you no longer sell when you want, but when you can. When an opportunity arises, they will probably sell,” says Amza.
He adds that should the objectives of the future shareholders overlap his own objectives, he will stay at the company. “I like this company, it is a highly profitable, very good business, there’s very high growth potential and I see myself involved in this business on the long term, at least as a shareholder. I am half investor, half entrepreneur”.
The producer in 2013 reported revenue of EUR29 million in Romania and Serbia and has over 40,000 clients, according to company data. In Romania, La Fantana reported revenue of 101 million lei (around EUR23 million), profit of RON11 million and around 500 employees in 2012. Overall, the group has over 800 employees.
La Fantana’s main rival on this market segment is Cumpana, owned by Romanian entrepreneur Florin Danila.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)