Dedeman could buy land of former Albalact plant

Dairy producer Albalact in Alba-Iulia, controlled by the Ciurtin family, is in negotiations with the Pavăl brothers, shareholders of Dedeman, leader of the Romanian DIY market, for the sale of the former milk plant, with the transaction to potentially amount to 1.6 million euros.

“We have a pre-contract signed with Dedeman for the plot of the former plant,” said Raul Ciurtin, president and general manager of Albalact.

Albalact had previously announced it had put the 16,000 square-metre plot of the Alba plant up for sale, with the asking price being 1.6 million euros. The Ciurtin family had dropped the production facility a few years ago when it decided to build a plant from scratch in Oiejdea commune, also in Alba county.

If the transaction goes through, Dedeman, a company with 360 million euros in turnover last year, would become the first big DIY chain to invest in Alba-Iulia, a city with 70,000 residents, given that Dedeman’s top three rivals, Praktiker, Bricostore and Baumax do not have stores in the city.

Dragoș Pavăl, Dedeman majority shareholder, did not provide any comment by edition close, but Alba-Iulia is on the list of cities where Dedeman plans to open new stores, according to information on the company’s website.