Polish footwear retailer pays EUR 33 mln for Romanian franchise

Polish footwear retailer CCC has signed a non-binding agreement to buy the company that owns the CCC franchise in Romania for EUR 33 million, the group announced on December 22. The seller is Peeraj Brands International, a Romanian company owned by investors from Dubai. Peeraj, one of the biggest players in the local fashion market, currently operates 54 CCC stores in Romania. The CCC network in Romania recorded sales of EUR 38 million and a net profit of some EUR 5.5 million, according to pro-forma financial data Peeraj provided to the buyer. In the first ten months of 2017, the sales went up by 28% compared to the same period of 2016, according to the same source. “The completion of the transaction is conditional upon the fulfillment of a number of conditions, such as relevant corporate transformation of Peeraj CCC, obtaining required corporate and regulatory approvals, including approval from the relevant competition authority, finalizing the due diligence and other standard conditions for this type of transaction,” CCC announced. The closing of the Transaction is estimated for the second quarter of 2018. Peeraj Brands International is one of the most important players in the local fashion market, operating about 100 stores under different brands. Besides CCC, the group also owns the Pimkie, Swarovski, Geox, Kazar, Piazza Italia and Armani Jeans franchises in Romania. The group had a turnover of EUR 51 million and a net profit of EUR 1.83 million in 2016, with over 650 employees, according to official data from the Finance Ministry. editor@romania-insider.com