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13.07.2009, 17:52 244

Penescu sells and leases back Pic stores for cash

Ilie Penescu, co-owner of the Pic hypermarket chain, wants to secure liquidity by selling the fixed assets of the retailer under a sell and lease back contract, which allows the company to continue its retail operations as a lessee in the current locations. "We want to sell the assets of the Pic chain to investors and then lease them back. We have sent letters of intent to investment funds, banks and real estate developers," said Ilie Penescu. He resorted to financial consultants from the BCR and from investment bank BAC Investment for this project. The chain has five hypermarkets which last year posted 100-120 million euros in sales. In 2007, the Pic stores in Craiova and Braila were appraised at 140 million RON (42 million euros) when they were brought as a contribution to the share capital of the group controlled by the Penescu brothers. ZF

SIF Transilvania: We are building the best hotel on the Black Sea Coast

SIF Transilvania (SIF3), the biggest local investor in tourism, has recently announced it will move on to the next stage of expanding its travel portfolio - building from scratch accommodation facilities on the site of those that could not be modernised in a first stage, with the first major project being the construction of a 4-5-star hotel in Eforie Nord, on the current site of the Vraja Marii hotel, which is part of the SIF Transilvania portfolio. "I don't think we will modernise Vraja Marii, but, if we manage to reach a deal with the mayor about the surrounding area, we will probably build the best asset on the Romanian Black Sea Coast there. A hotel, set right where Vraja Marii is currently located, right next to the beach, all rooms overlooking the sea, a spa facility and other 4 and 5-star services. We have one more hotel to modernise at this stage, the Adonis hotel, located opposite the Cleopatra hotel in Saturn, and maybe the Neptun hotel here in Eforie Nord, as well," said Mihai Fercala, general manager of SIF Transilvania, present at the launch of the Cleopatra hotel in Saturn and of Bran-Brad-Bega in Eforie Nord. ZF

Dedeman reaches 25m-euro investments

DIY retailer Dedeman, controlled by brothers Adrian and Dragos Paval, has completed investments amounting to around 10 million euros in Iasi, where it opened the network's 15th store at the end of last week. The company has now reached overall investments worth around 25 million euros in expansion this year. "The opening of the 15th Dedeman store completes the third out of four investment projects we have planned for this year. By the end of the third quarter, a second store will be opened in Bucharest on Valea Cascadelor street. Dedeman's national expansion targets a 30-store network by 2015," said Dedeman representatives. The Iasi store is located on a 30,000 square-metre plot, of which 13,000 square metres are accounted for by the sales area. Dedeman is the second-largest player in DIY retail, after German-based Praktiker. ZF

Greek-based Vivartia brings over restaurant and coffee shop division

Vivartia, Greece's largest food group, with half a billion euros in annual turnover, is examining the possibility of entering the Romanian market with its restaurant and coffee shops division, according to its recently published 2008 financial report. The company has already registered the two brands it operates in Greece on the restaurants and coffee shops market - Goody's and Flocafe with the Romanian State Office for Inventions and Trademarks. Two of the brands in its portfolio, which it develops by granting franchises to independent operators, Everest (fast food) and Gloria Jean's (coffee shop) are already present on the Romanian market. The group currently operates 185 fast food Goody's restaurants, most of which are on the Greek market (178), with the chain being also present in Bulgaria with one restaurant. ZF

Ion Lazar: Fee reduction will generate 10% decline of transport turnover

Ion Lazar, owner of International Lazar, one of the top five transporters on the Romanian market, says the reduction of transport fees by 15-17% on average will lead to a 10% decline in turnover at the end of this year. In 2008 International Lazar Company reported a 38 million-euro turnover, whilst the overall group controlled by Ion Lazar reported an 80 million-euro business. "Transport will be down by 10-15% because, after the oil price went down, the fee per kilometre had to go down by an average 15-17%, as well. If we had preserved the same fees, we would have recorded the same business in June as last year," said Ion Lazar. According to him, following the reduction in transport fees for June, transport revenues fell to 2.4 million euros from 2.7 million euros in June 2008. According to the forecast, this year's turnover will amount to 32 million euros, down from 38 million euros in 2008. 

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