October 24 (SeeNews) - Hungary's anti-trust body has approved the merger of the local unit of Romanian online retailer eMAG with its Budapest-based peer Extreme Digital, eMAG said on Thursday.
As a result of the merger, eMAG is expanding to the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia and Austria, it said in a press release.
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eMAG becomes a majority shareholder of the new entity, with a 52% stake, while the rest will be owned by Extreme Digital.
The new entity starts with a cumulative income estimated at 250 million euro ($278 million), 600 employees. The company targets one billion euro in sales in the next six years.
"The approval of the merger of eMAG Hungary with Extreme Digital marks an important step in our regional expansion. We are glad that a Romanian company takes the technology developed at home to all the countries where it is present. By continuing international development, we will produce further value in Romania, considering the large number of Romanian employees, suppliers and sellers," eMAG CEO Iulian Stanciu said.
The transaction was announced in March.
Extreme Digital uses a hybrid business model combining online and offline shopping, so that customers can receive products they ordered online in the 16 stores the retailer owns in Hungary.
Online retailer eMAG was founded in 2001 by Romanian entrepreneurs, and later expanded in Bulgaria, Hungary and Poland. South Africa-based Naspers media group acquired a 70% stake in eMAG in 2012.
($= 0.8996 euro)
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