Private equity firm Mid Europa Partners has acquired leading Romanian supermarket chain Profi Rom Food from Polish Enterprise Fund VI, the firm announced Wednesday.
This is the largest retail deal in Romania’s history and, according to local media reports, is worth €533 million.
The transaction is subject to antitrust clearance and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017.
Profi has a wide geographical spread in Romania, with a strong presence in almost 250 cities, smaller towns and villages.
It operates two store formats in urban areas, Standard and City, and recently developed a format for rural parts of the country called Loco. Overall, its network consists of almost 500 stores and estimated sales for 2016 were around €800 million.
Profi is the first retail chain in Romania to have created a brand dedicated to rural customers and aimed at reaching regions previously unavailable to modern retail.
Polish Enterprise Fund VI originally acquired Profi in 2010 for €66 million.
Portuguese company Jerónimo Martins had previously expressed interest in purchasing the Romanian retail chain.
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
