ROCA was established by CITR Group and the first to contribute money were the Paval Brothers, the owners of DIY retailer Dedeman, the largest Romanian entrepreneurial business and Dan Sucu, owner of Mobexpert furniture retailer and maker.
Andrei Cioncea, CITR Group chairman, too, invested his own money.
ROCA announced the new round of investors includes Banca Transilvania via its Asset Management arm, Teodora Popa, vice-president of Transavia (the largest poultry producer in Romania), Adolf Baclea, founder of Cosena company, Vetimex Capital SRL, a company of the Korponay family, Cristian Ludovic Pop, founder of pet shop chain Animax (sold to a UK private equity firm for more than EUR15 million) and Next Capital Solution, a financial service company working with small businesses.
“Although many Romanian companies are experiencing difficulties, our traditional business culture has no sympathy towards them. To become healthy sustainable businesses, Romanian brands need financing, management and commercial support,” said Rudolf Vizental, ROCA CEO.
“The purpose of ROCA platform is to create a community of investors, founding entrepreneurs and experienced managers, who pool their efforts towards making the Romanian business environment healthy. To a company, becoming part of the ROCA portfolio means specialized management, access to funding, as well as being part of this business community, with trustworthy partners, investors and experts, who contribute their experience and foster development of Romanian brands, through their collective efforts.”
Established in 2017, ROCA provides capital to ailing companies. The latest company it bought into is Tremot Dobre and Fii in Baicoi, Prahova, after having bought in S-Karp, a sports shoes manufacturer in Brasov and Frigotehnica, local leader in the refrigeration technology solutions sector.
ROCA contributes up to EUR2 million and takes over no more than 60% in the company.
The Paval brothers contributed EUR2 million to ROCA’s capital and Dan Sucu came up with EUR500,000 (which he doubled in the meantime). Now that the platform attracted EUR13.5 million, its officials say they can focus on restructuring 10 to 15 companies with recovery and growth potential.
It is rare for Romania to see investors team up to carry out a project together.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)