La Fourmi targets further acquisitions

Patrick Knight, managing director of the La Fourmi supermarket network, says the company still intends to acquire stores, and that a potential takeover would entail investments worth around 5-10 million euros and entrance onto the provincial market. The Greek investment fund Global Finance, which owns the La Fourmi network, came close last year to taking over the Albinuta store network (which eventually came under the ownership of the discount-oriented retailer Profi), and also voiced an interest in the Ethos supermarket network in Bucharest. Ethos, a business developed by Romanian investors, as well as the largest independent supermarket network on the Romanian market, is still a possible target for La Fourmi. Other potential targets include smaller networks held by local entrepreneurs. “We have held talks with several Romanian entrepreneurs, with a view to taking over their supermarket networks, and my impression was they didn’t know the value of their own companies, and had unrealistic expectations (…),” explained Knight.