Darty to transfer Turkish business to local Bimeks

PARIS - Reuters

Darty will sell its 28 stores to Turkish technology retailer Bimeks, but retaining the business’s liabilities. DHA photo

Darty Plc, Europe’s third-largest electrical retailer by sales has agreed to sell its loss-making Turkish business to local specialist technology retailer Bimeks.

The company said on Dec. 18 it had agreed to sell its Turkish operations to Bimeks. It will sell its 28 stores but retain the business’s liabilities. Financial terms have yet to be agreed, but Darty said it expected the deal to be broadly cash neutral.

“While the Turkish market is growing and dynamic, we concluded that we could not expect to make significant progress with the business without making a further significant investment,” Darty Chairman Alan Parker said in a statement.

The deal could complete by the end of April, when Darty’s financial year ends.

Darty also said on while market conditions remained challenging, it was confident its turnaround strategy would deliver higher earnings over the medium term, lifting its shares by 4.4 percent.

It plans to buy a French retail website to boost online expansion, as it steps up efforts to revive the company. The company said it was in exclusive talks with media group M6 to buy Mistergooddeal, a website that sells white goods, TVs and furniture. It did not disclose financial terms.

Like its larger rivals, Darty is battling weak consumer spending and competition from online retailers.

London-listed Darty, which has more than 450 stores in Europe, has responded by cutting costs, exiting loss-making operations in Italy and Spain and focusing on its core markets of France, Belgium and the Netherlands.