February 25, 2014 15:43 
German group Praktiker has sold its domestic operations consisting of a 27 retail stores to Omer Susli, a Turkish man with business in the construction field, according to Mediafax which quotes some sources in the DIY market. As per the same news agency, the official announcement should be made shortly.
Susli, who is former President of TIAD, the association of Turkish businesspeople in Romania, is one of the shareholders of Search Chemicals, a company which supplies construction materials, Mediafax stating that the transactions is supposed to have been completed yesterday.
Praktiker has faced some difficulties over the past years, at the end of 2011 announcing that will proceed with restructuring its operations by closing some stores in Germany, as well as its exit from Albanian market. Later, in 2012, the German group announced through its main shareholder, the investment corporation Maseltov, that plans to renounce to its business in the Eastern European countries, statement subsequently denied by Praktiker’s representatives. Yet, after the parent company, Praktiker AG, became insolvent last year, the DYI group left the Ukrainian market which is now followed by Romania.
Once the leading company in this market, Praktiker has sharply reduced its turnover in the last years and has significantly increased its loss. In Romania, Praktiker has a retail chain comprising of 27 units, being the second largest player based on this criteria. Its main competitors in the domestic market are among others Ambient, Dedeman, Hornbach or Leroy Merlin.
