Information for fruit and vegetables business in CIS
Has the Russian Supermarket Chain Perekrestok Bought Ukrainian Furshet?
Information regarding negotiations concerning plans of the Russian supermarket chain Perekrestok to buy the Ukrainian chain Furshet have been confirmed by representatives of the companies several times already. However, many experts doubt the possibility such deal would ever succeed. Perekrestok has lost money only once in Ukraine when it was forced to close Spar Ukraine supermarket due to it insufficient revenue. Today representatives of "Agrooglyad: Fruits and Vegetables" weekly happened to hear about the possibly completed deal. Others in the industry also indirectly confirmed this information.
Unfortunately, representatives of "Garantiya-Trade" company have not officially commented on the deal yet. A secretary of the Commercial Director of the company that did not want to identify herself was not surprised by the question about the deal, but said no one in the company would comment on this information. She said, "Interviews are not a usual thing in our company". Representatives from the Ukrainian office of Perekrestok Ukraine also would not confirm nor deny this information, referring to the absence of the official statement.
If the information about Perekrestok's purchase of Furshet chain is confirmed, it would be the largest deal in the history of Ukrainian retail. According to information supplied by Perekrestok itself, in 2004 the trade turnover of the company was worth $ 766 million, and is expected to be worth $ 1.2 billion in 2005. The company owns a chain of 110 supermarkets in Russia and Ukraine, which service daily more than 300,000 consumers.
Furshet supermarket chain consists of 47 stores in Kyiv and in Kyiv, Cherkasy, Khmelnitskiy, Kyrovograd, Volyn, Poltava, Odesa, Mykolaiv, Vinnitsa, Dnepropetrovsk, Zhytomyr, Lviv and Donetsk oblasts and as well as the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. According to estimates of Ukrainian retail market, the turnover of Furshet chain was about $ 240 million in 2004 making it the second largest supermarket chain in the Ukrainian retail market.