ROMANIA: How many stores should Carrefour quit in order to take over Billa | Progresiv
The Competition Council has made public the commitments to be taken by Carrefour in order to obtain the agreement to take over Billa supermarket chain - giving up three supermarkets in Braila, the only city that would raise competitive issues. 
"Following the analysis, the Competition Council found that the transaction could lead to a consolidation of Carrefour’s position on the fast moving consumer goods market, through stores like supermarkets, hypermarkets, discount stores and other similar stores (such as convenience or neighborhood stores) in the geographical area of Braila. The Competition Council expressed its concerns regarding the reduction of consumer choice possibilities", noted the authority in the press release.
The commitments proposed by Carrefour consist in the divestiture of three active supermarkets from Braila, respectively two Carrefour Market stores and one Billa store. In addition, Carrefour has undertaken not to engage in transferred activities until after a significant period of 10 years.
Carrefour announced at the end of 2015 the signing of a purchase agreement for Billa supermarket chain in Romania, the transaction’s value being estimated at 96-97 million euros. By value, this is the third largest transaction on the local retail market after Auchan-Real (the French took over 20 Real hypermarkets) and Lidl - Plus (part of Schwarz group, the Germans from Lidl took over the 107 Plus stores ).
Carrefour currently owns 191 stores nationwide, of which 29 Carrefour hypermarkets, 108 Market supermarkets, 43 Express convenience stores, 10 Contact convenience stores and an online commerce website: www.carrefour-online.ro. They are joined by four other stores operating under the Supeco banner. The French ended financial year 2015 with a turnover of 6.74 billion lei and a profit of 127 million lei, results that rank them second in the top retailers in 2015, after German retailer Kaufland.
