EU – Baltic States, Markets and Companies, Mergers and take-overs, Retail

The Polish news website Parkiet has reported that Maxima Group is interested in buying Emperia Holding, the owner of the consumer goods retail chain Stokrotka, which has been looking for an investor for some time now.

Emperia Holding's management board announced last spring that they expected to find a buyer of 100 percent of shares in the company by late September. The board said in August that some progress had been achieved and that the process was going according to schedule.

Parkiet says, however, that it appears that the chain is unlikely to be sold to a new investor until the first quarter of next year.

Stokrotka, which is the Polish for "Daisy", says on its website that it owns over 370 stores across Poland.

Emperia Holding, which is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, posted 1.323 billion Polish zlotys (EUR 290.5 mln) in consolidated revenue for the first half of 2017, up 5.1 percent from a year earlier. Its net profit jumped by 20.9 percent to 22.2 million zlotys (EUR 5.2 mln).

Emperia Holding also owns the property developer Elpro Development and the IT company Infinite. The group employs a workforce of over 8,000 people.

Aldik says that it has 30 stores. Euroapotheca, a pharmacy chain that is part of Vilniaus Prekyba, the owner of Maxima Grupe, has over 80 pharmacies in Poland.