Media: Three competitors line up to buy Baumax’ business in Romania, deal to be signed in July

Do-it-yourself retailers Leroy Merlin, Praktiker and Kingfisher are in the race to buy the store chain of competitor Baumax in Romania, according to sources on the market quoted by Wall-Street.ro. The deal should be inked in July. The Austrian press recently reported that Baumax’ Austrian unit posted the largest losses in the group, some EUR 150 million, and that all stores abroad, in Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia will be closed down by fall. Baumax runs 15 stores in Romania, and in 2012, had sales of EUR 122 million, and a loss of EUR 2.2 million. The whole group runs 158 stores, half of which in Austria. The company has debts of over EUR 1 billion, most of which are mortgage loans. The local do-it-yourself retail market has been facing tough times and changes. Kingfisher took over Bricostore and turned it into Brico depot, while OBI is expected to withdraw from the Romanian market as of September 1, according to Wall-Street.ro. editor@romania-insider.com