Carrefour Romania buys competitor Billa

Carrefour Romania, the local subsidiary of French retail group Carrefour, announced on Tuesday (December 22) it has signed an agreement to buy supermarket chain Billa Romania from its German competitor Rewe. Billa Romania has a network of 86 supermarkets with a total selling area of 83,000 sqm. In 2014, Billa had EUR 315 million in sales and close to 3,200 employees, according to official data from the Finance Ministry. Carrefour is one of the biggest hypermarket chains in Romania. The French group, which opened its first hypermarket in Romania in 2001, now operates 29 hypermarkets, 104 supermarkets under the Carrefour Market brand, and over 50 proximity shops under the Express and Contact brands. Carrefour’s business in Romania was over EUR 1.2 billion in 2014. The group had over 9,000 employees last year. The Billa takeover will help Carrefour strengthen its supermarket network, a segment that is currently dominated by Belgian group Mega Image, German discounter Lidl, and local retailer Profi. The deal’s value was not announced officially. According to market sources, the deal was close to EUR 96-97 million, reports M&A journal Mirsanu.ro. The transaction also needs the Romanian Competition Council’s approval. Carrefour was assisted in this deal by Societe Generale, EY and local law firm Tuca Zbarcea & Asociatii while Rewe worked with Deloitte, and law firms Schoenherr and Pachiu & Asociatii, according to Mirsanu.ro. German group Rewe also owns the Selgros Cash & Carry network and the Penny Market and XXL Mega Discount supermarket networks. Deal between Billa and Carrefour in Romania is imminent, price still uncertain Carrefour considers taking over Billa supermarkets in Romania Carrefour plans to set up an 81,000 sqm logistic hub near Bucharest Romania’s biggest companies: Who made it over the EUR 1 bln mark in 2014? editor@romania-insider.com