Enterprise Investors takes Profi to competitors’ locations

Profi discounter chain, a 140 million-euro business, took over three stores previously operated by Ethos and Fidelio retailers in Targoviste, Roman and Pascani, benefiting from the epidemics of insolvencies on the market.
These are the first investments completed by the company after having been acquired by Poland’s Enterprise Investors (EI) in the autumn of 2009.
Moreover, the CEO of Profi, Gunter Grieb, said acquisitions of smaller networks were being considered at the moment, in order to accelerate expansion. Enterprise Investors aims to double the network over the next three to four years, to a total of some 130 stores.
The high number of retail insolvencies is moving to city districts the battlefield of store chains – from modern kiosks such as R. Kiosk or Mic.Ro to discounters and supermarkets.
Retailers that still have cash reserves for expansion are now seeing more opportunities in convenience retail than before the crisis, because locations previously tested by other retailers are becoming available on the market.