December 4 (SeeNews) - London-based do-it-yourself (DIY) retailer Kingfisher said on Monday it has completed the acquisition of Praktiker Romania for an undisclosed sum, after receiving the approval of country's competition authority.
Kingfisher has bought all Praktiker Romania shares from the Susli family, it said in a press release.
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The family bought the Romanian operations of the German DIY retailer three years ago, after the parent company entered insolvency. Kingfisher announced its intention to buy Praktiker Romania in August.
Praktiker is one of the main players in the DIY market in Romania, with a turnover of some 140 million euro ($165.8 million) in 2016 and 27 stores located in 23 cities.
Kingfisher operates 15 stores under the Brico Depot brand in Romania, with 964 employees. The transaction will take Kingfisher's presence across the country to 42 stores.
"'The acquisition of Praktiker Romania offers us a strong presence throughout the country. We want to help our customers improve and personalize their homes and we are happy that more and more of them will benefit from good quality products at good prices," Brico Depot Romania CEO Adela Smeu said.
"We will continue to invest in all our stores to improve our customers' buying experience."
Kingfisher acquired Bricostore's 15 home improvement stores in Romania from Group Bresson, a French retail company, in April 2013. It operates nearly 1,200 stores across 10 countries in Europe, employing some 77,000.
($=0.8442 euro)