Romanian marketplace Elefant.ro files for insolvency

Romanian online retailer Elefant, with RON 17.5 million (EUR 3.5 million) bonds listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB: ELF26), announced on January 31 that it has submitted to the Bucharest Court an insolvency request, expressing its intention to come up with a reorganization plan and implement it under existing management, Ziarul Financiar reported.

Elefant is controlled by former Moldovan prime minister Ion Sturza through Cyprus-registered Millennium Gold Resources Limited.

Last May, Sturza announced an agreement to sell its 58.8% stake in the company to evoMag, an independent online retailer that is also the marketplace’s main customer. Catalyst Romania SCA SICAR was also supposed to sell its 9.6% stake in Elefant. However, later in November, the deal was cancelled.

Elefant reported its turnover plunged to RON 53 million (EUR 11 million) in H1, 2023, compared to RON 95 million in the same period of 2022, while losses remained at the same value of RON 11 million (EUR 2.2 million).

ELF26 bonds are trading at 62.7% of their nominal value.

(Photo source: the company)