Dutch owners, in talks to sell one of the most popular places in Bucharest’s Old Town

Grand Café Van Gogh, one of the most popular places in Bucharest’s Old Town is for sale. The café’s owners, Dutchmen Jerry van Schaik and Pieter De Ruiter, are hoping to close a deal in the following months, Romania-Insider.com has learned. Jerry van Schaik, who launched Grand Café Van Gogh in 2009 and has been managing it since, declined to make any comment while the process is still ongoing. Grand Café Van Gogh is located on Smardan Street at number 9, next to Romania’s National Bank headquarters. Its location, one of the best in Bucharest’s Old Town, has made it very popular for expats as well as locals who pass through the area. The café is on the ground floor of a renovated interbellum building and also has a large terrace which is usually crowded during summer. The business includes conference rooms and office spaces at the top floors of the building. In 2013, Grand Café Van Gogh had revenues of some EUR 863,000 and a net profit of EUR 22,000, according to public data available at the Finance Ministry. It had 46 employees. The results for 2014 haven’t been made public. Jerry van Schaik, a well-known figure in the expat community, owns 50% of the business. He also fully owns the Rembrandt hotel, which is located next to Grand Café Van Gogh. He was one of the first foreign investors who bet on the development of Bucharest’s Old Town, as an associate in the former Amsterdam Café. He also invested in one of the first wine shops in Bucharest, Beros & van Schaik, a business which he sold last year. Read an expat profile on Jerry van Schaik by Romania-Insider.com: The show goes on for Jerry Van Schaik, from Amsterdam to Rembrandt and Van Gogh His partner and owner of the other 50% in Grand Café Van Gogh is Pieter De Ruiter, another well-known expat. De Ruiter is a former Country Managing Partner in EY Romania, from 2004 until 2006, and Managing Partner in PwC Central and Eastern Europe, from 2006 until 2013. In 2013, he left Romania and moved to Nigeria, where he is now Tax Partner. Peter de Ruiter- the unconventional businessman in love with art, bikes and …tax law Andrei Chirileasa, andrei@romania-insider.com