Foreign Investments - The Diplomat Bucharest

Cartridge refiller to franchise
Cartridge refill franchiser Cartridge World has opened its first shop in Bucharest last month and announced plans to open 50 more franchised stores in Romania in the next five years.

New distributor for gas
Oil and gas company Petrom, part of the OMV Group, will set up a new company, Petrom Distributie Gaze, to manage the already existing gas distribution network of Petrom. The company will be formed by transferring assets and employees from Petrom. The company operates a gas distribution network of 950 km serving more than 14,000 clients.
Logistics parks for major cities
Austrian real estate developer Eyemaxx and real estate investment fund Immoeast will build four new logistic parks in Ploiesti, Brasov, Sibiu and Cluj-Napoca, in an estimated investment of 170 million Euro. Officials said land has already been bought for the projects in Ploiesti, Brasov and Sibiu.

Youth-oriented fashion for Sibiu
Fashion store New Yorker plans to open stores in Sibiu this year and a flagship in Bucharest by the end of 2009, a spokesman for the group told The Diplomat. The company, which has stores in most east European countries in the EU, says the stores will range between 500 sqm and 2,000 sqm.
Discount store in 2008 opening drive
Plus Discount intends to open 30 new supermarkets with a total investment of around 40 million Euro in 2008. The company is targeting small towns with over 20,000 people “The Plus supermarket network will count up 175 stores all over the country by 2011,” Uwe Klostermann, general manager Plus Discount Romania told The Diplomat.
DIY store opens in Targoviste
German DIY retailer Praktiker Romania has opened its 18th store in the country, following a 7.9 million Euro investment. The store, located in Targoviste, is the second one opened this year, after Galati. Praktiker has also expanded this year the retail areas in Cluj-Napoca and Timisoara. It will open another store in Iasi.

UK budget airline increases flights
Low cost airline Easyjet is flying from Bucharest to London Gatwick and Madrid from 29 October. This adds to the flight the budget carrier is already using between Bucharest and Milan. The airline will theoretically use Bucharest Baneasa airport for its flights, although this had yet to meet Easyjet’s operational requirements as we went to press. This meant that the carrier was instead flying from Henri Coanda airport.
Giant insurers take over Certinvest
Insurance firm Aviva last month took over asset management company Certinvest for an undisclosed amount. Certinvest is Romania’s oldest asset management company and 99.8 per cent of its shares will be integrated in the local operations of Aviva, pending a final approval from the Competition Council.
Plastics to expand premises
Warwickshire-based Plastic Engineering will move its Romanian operation to a larger facility to reach sales of 2.8 million Euro in the next two years in Mures county. The firm supplies components to the automotive industry including seatbelts, air bags, fuel tanks and steering columns. It also supplies the gas and chemicals industries with products such as chemical dispensers and gas metres.

Noodles find new home
Instant food producer Rollton Trading House, part of Russia’s FG Food, will invest 3.5 million Euro to build a production unit in Titu, Dambovita county next year. The firm owns 7.5 hectares in the industrial area of the city, according to Titu mayor Dinu Ilie. The plant will become operational at the end of 2008 and will supply south-eastern Europe.

Med devices step in
Orthopaedic medical devices producer Dr. Med last month entered the Romanian market by signing a partnership agreement with local consultancy firm Business Network Center. Starting this Autumn Dr. Med products will be available on the Romanian market, as well as in countries in south-eastern Europe.

Half a billion heads south
Investment bank Askar Capital has established a subsidiary and opened an office in Bucharest to seek investment opportunities in real estate up to 500 million Euro, but also to serve as a sourcing office for investment opportunities in the surrounding countries. “We have participated in a few investment opportunities in Romania to this date and we look forward to expanding on that,”said Tomas Sigurdsson, managing director of Askar Real Estate Investment Advisory.

Shop chain tackles real estate
Real estate trader Contempo and Spanish-based GIS have launched a chain of real estate shops, with a two million Euro investment. The stores address both individual clients and real estate investors and developers, by offering services such as marketing and sales strategies, legal aid and advertising support.

New supermarkets for Moldavia
Gimrom Holding-owned supermarket G market will open new shops in Focsani, and in Bacau this month in a total 4.5 million Euro investment. The group also has three stores in Bucharest and two in Iasi and plans to have an estate of eight stores by November.

Investment bank continues purchases
Investment bank Lehman Brothers Real Estate Partners have paid 9.6 million Euro for a 3.09 per cent in Bucharest developer Impact. At the same time, more of Impact’s stake packages, up to 6.28 per cent of the firm’s share capital, were traded on the Bucharest Stock Exchange for 19.64 million Euro. Lehman Brothers has also bought five per cent in local-based real estate developer Adama, earlier this year.