French retailer Cora denies plans to pull out of Romania

French retail group Cora will continue to invest in the Romanian market and plans to open new stores, according to representatives of Cora Romania.

They dismissed recent rumors about the group’s plans to sell the local operations. Unofficial sources told Ziarul Financiarearlier this week that French group Carrefour, the second largest player on the local retail market, explores options to take over the 11 Cora hypermarkets in Romania. Cora officials denied the information while representatives of Carrefour Romania refused to comment.

"We are pleased to have over 1 million loyal customers holding a Cora [fidelity] Card. To them, as well as to all other Romanian consumers, we dedicate our work. I assure both our customers and our business partners that the rumors circulated in the media today about the so-called talks for the sale of Cora are false. The reality is only one: Cora remains in Romania and is growing on the local market," said Thierry Destailleur, CEO of Cora Romania.

Cora has operated for over 16 years in Romania where it owns 11 hypermarkets with a turnover of almost RON 1.8 billion (EUR 390 million).

(Photo source: Facebook/Cora Romania)