The hard-discount outlet network Profi, which is owned by the Belgium group Louis Delhaize, which also controls the Cora hypermarket chain, will enter onto the Bucharest market by acquiring the nine Albinuta supermarkets owned by the Lithuanian retailer Maxima Lt.

This marks the exit of Maxima Ltd, the largest retail chain in the Baltic states from the Romanian market, in a deal put by ZF at around 10m euros

"We received a very interesting takeover bid and had to make an on the spot decision. Albinuta Shops (the Romanian subsidiary) has not brought us any losses, but the decision to sell was not difficult, as we've not seen any growth recently on the Romanian market," stated Gintaras Marcinkevicius, chairman of the board and managing director with Maxima Lt. He also said the company's priority at the moment was to expand into Bulgaria and the Baltic states. The retailer owns more than 370 supermarkets, 17 of which are in Bulgaria.

Albinuta Shops registered a turnover worth 23m euros last year, an increase of 30% on 2005.

Lithuanian retailer Maxima Lt opened its first outlet in Romania in 2005 and by 2007 had reached a network of 9 supermarkets in Bucharest, with more than 350 employees.

"We are entering the Bucharest market, where we plan to expand further," stated Caius Crisan, the general manager of Profi Rom Food. He also stated that takeover discussions had lasted for several months, but would not disclose the exact value of the final deal.

According to sources on the market, Profi was last to join in the race for the acquisition of Albinuta Shops,.

In the wake of investments worth as much as 10 million euros, the Profi retail chain is expected to reach 37 outlets on the domestic market, with 10 new stores being scheduled to open.

The network expects to derive sales worth 73 million euros by the end of this year. @