Real prepares to expand

Real Hypermarket Romania, the company operating Real hypermarkets on the local market, increased its share capital by 20 million euros, according to the Official Gazette. The company announced it would open six stores by the end of the year. Real, the hypermarket division of the German group Metro, opened its first store on the local market in March in Timisoara, following an investment worth some 15 million euros. Company officials announced that another six stores are to be opened in cities such as Constanta, Oradea, Sibiu and Bucharest. Real officials could not be contacted for comment. Real is not the first division of the Metro group to have entered the local market. Metro Cash & Carry opened its first store in Romania in 1996 and in time became the biggest retail network on the local market, with 23 stores and business worth 1.25 billion euros last year. In 2003, Metro introduced its DIY division Praktiker on the local market with its DIY division Praktiker. Praktiker now has 11 stores in Romania, but left Metro”s portfolio, after the Germans sold their stake at an international level for approximately half a billion euros. ZF