Hyparlo takes over Carrefour Romania

The good results posted in Romania prompted French giant Carrefour to consolidate its stake in Hyparlo, one of the group’s biggest franchisees. Each of the two French groups held 50% in stock of Carrefour Romania, the company operating the four Carrefour hypermarkets on the domestic market.

“Given the solid results Carrefour Romania has posted, the two groups have strengthened their partnership,” Francois Oliver told Ziarul Financiar.

Carrefour decided to raise its stake in Hyparlo group from 20% to 48.9%. The deal, to be completed by March, was more complex and involved the takeover by Hyparlo of the stake held by Carrefour in the Romanian-based company, which has this way become the sole shareholder.

The new shareholder structure will not change the development strategy or financing of Carrefour Romania, according to representatives of the company.

“Everything will be kept at the same parametres as before,” Oliver added.

Since the opening of their first store in Romania, in 2001, the French have repeatedly said that traffic and sales had exceeded their expectations, with Carrefour Orhideea hypermarket even being ranked as Carrefour’s third-largest store in the world in terms of traffic.

Carrefour Romania’s plans include the opening of two stores every year in the medium term, which would allow the company to reach 15 stores around 2010. The future hypermarkets will be located, according to with market data, in Galati, Ploiesti and Bucharest.

The final target announced by Carrefour representatives for the Romanian market is 20-25 stores, which will trigger more than 500 million euros in investments. Carrefour stores have attracted over 140 million-euro investments so far.

The four Carrefour hypermarkets opened on the Romanian market were meant to allow the company to double its turnover last year against the almost 120 million euros registered in 2003 with only two operational stores. Moreover, Carrefour will break even this year, according to its representatives, for the first time since entering the Romanian market.

The only direct rival of Carrefour on the segment of hypermarkets in Romania is another French group, Cora, which owns a 50 million-euro store in Pantelimon, the eastern area of the capital city.

Cora is building up another store in the western area of Bucharest and is in talks to acquire more land in Romania, according to market information.

Hyparlo group is one of Carrefour’s most important franchisees, a family business founded by Robert Arlaud. ionut.bonoiu@zf.ro