Billa supermarket chain buys 2.7m euro terrain

Billa supermarkets is planning to expand its operations in eastern Romania and has acquired a terrain worth about 2.67 million euros from the Laminorul Braila company.

The contract for the sale was signed in April 2004, but ownership rights were not transferred until October.

The land covers an area of almost 29,000 square metres and is on the outskirts of Braila.

The Billa chain, which is owned by the German Rewe Group, started doing business in Romania in 1999 when it opened its first store in Bucharest. According to Finance Ministry data, turnover for Billa Romania last year was in the region of 123 million euros.

The Galati and Braila area, which together has more than 500,000 inhabitants, is set to become an investor hot spot for Romanian trade, particularly after the privatisation of the Sidex iron and steel complex, which helped stop economic decline in the region.

An increasing number of international trade groups that initially entered the Romanian market through Bucharest are currently planning expansion to cities outside the capital. The most active from this point of view is the German group Metro, which opened its first store in Bucharest in 1996. Since then, the German group, which anticipates sales of 800 million euros for this year, has expanded to 20 stores, only four of which are in Bucharest.

The German Rewe group already has a presence in eastern Romania through its Billa supermarket in Galati. Galati also has a Metro supermarket, and Carrefour has acquired land there with a view to opening another supermarket.

The local market is also home to the Modern Shopping Center, which is part of Winmarkt network owned by the New Century Holdings investment fund.

Three months ago the area also witnessed the sale of Laminorul Braila, Silcotub Zalau and Tubinox Bucharest in a transaction worth around 42 million dollars.
alexandru.cerchez@zf.ro