Romstal makes 10m-euro acquisition in Serbia

Romstal, one of the leading players on the local market of sanitary and electric equipment, has purchased the entire Doming distribution network in Serbia, as part of its regional development strategy. According to company representatives, this is the company's first takeover outside Romania, after it expanded organically through distribution centres in the Republic of Moldova, Italy, Bulgaria and Ukraine. "We have purchased one of the leading players on the market of electric and sanitary equipment in Serbia. Doming has a 20-25% market share in Serbia, slightly better than Romstal's in Romania. We are also considering opening a production centre in the long term," Enrico Perini (photo), president and majority shareholder of the Romstal group, an Italian with Romanian citizenship, told ZF. Ser bia has lately become one of the hottest markets for Romanian companies with expansion plans, with Arabesque, the largest distributor of construction materials in Romania, having recently opened a 10,000 square-metre distribution centre in Belgrade. Arabesque has taken out a 50m euro credit from IFC with a view to expanding in Serbia and Bulgaria. Perini also said he expects sales of the Doming network, which consists of 10 stores in Serbia (3 in Belgrade) to increase by 20-25% next year, from an estimated 25 millions this year.