Ahold-Delhaize undertook to sell those stores to get approval from the Competition Council for its acquisition of the Profi chain. Besides this, the group also has to abide by a number of rules in dealing with its suppliers.
The 87 stores up for sale, most of them Profis, are located in 44 cities. More than half of them are in Bucharest and Ilfov. There are also some in Prahova, Giurgiu and Dambovita Counties, relatively close to the capital city.
“They are small stores, but many of them are in good locations. Since today it is hard to find good space on the market, they may be a point of interest. However, I’ll say that again, these are small stores, usable only for modern convenience [stores],” a market source told ZF.
Today, modern convenience retail is the hottest area of the grocery retail market in Romania. Auchan, Carrefour, Mega Image, Profi, Froo and LaDoiPasi Extra (Metro) are all big names betting on small modern neighborhood stores. There are some domestic retailers in this business, too.
Therefore, any company not owned by Ahold Delhaize could join the race.
The investors interested actually include both big groups, which a long presence on the market, such as Carrefour, as well as new international names like Zabka (Froo stores in Romania), ZF sources say. Some local retailers, too, submitted bids, the sources added.
ZF has previously estimated the deal at more than EUR50 million.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)