Elena and Mircea Cremenescu, the two shareholders of cosmetics manufacturer Elmi Prodfarm, are considering a partnership with an investment fund in order to secure the development of the business and of the Elmiplant brand, on a market that is dominated by major international brands.
"(...) In the near future, I could enter a partnership with a stronger company, in order to withdraw from the production of pharmaceuticals and dermato-cosmetics, but this will only happen if the brand continues to be developed and promoted. I believe the company is worth more than 10 million euros and a future partnership with an investment fund would benefit us," says Elena Cremenescu, executive manager at Elmi Prodfarm.
According to company representatives, Elmi Prodfarm has received takeover bids before, but no agreement has been reached.
Elena and Mircea Cremenescu, who founded Elmi Prodfarm, which produces the Elmiplant brand, left their jobs as a pharmacist-researcher and engineer to start their business in 1992.
They started out with three formulas, with the help of which they manufactured a thousand small units of cream.
The brand name was created from the founders' initials and their intention that their products should be created from plants. At first, they managed to distribute products to small networks and reinvested the profits in the development of the product range.
In 2000, the company opened its first production centre. At present, the company has 85 employees, a portfolio of over 100 products from various ranges and a distribution network both domestically and abroad.
Elmi Prodfarm also makes private label products for two of its partners, Carrefour and Mediplus.
In the first nine months of 2007, Elmi Prodfarm derived turnover worth 9.6 million RON (2.8 million euros), up 24% against the same period last year and the company forecasts maximum turnover worth 13 million RON (3.9 million euros) for the entire year.
With prices that range between 6 and 20 RON, Elmiplant products are aimed at medium-income consumers.
This year, the company earmarked almost 10% of turnover for promotion and invested more than 150,000 euros to re-launch the Bioten range.
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