Cluj versus Budapest

The second electronic complex belonging to Media Galaxy has been opened in Cluj-Napoca.

The complex is one of the shops in the Central mall, has a total surface of 2,000 square meters, covering an entire level, the third one. Why Cluj? Because, according to Dan Ostahie, the president and CEO of the Altex group, in this part of the country there are a lot of people who go to Budapest when they want to buy this kind of products.

The investment is about 700,000 euros and it has determined the appearance of 50 new jobs available for the inhabitants of Cluj. "The Media Galaxy shop situated in Bucharest Mall has been beyond all our expectations; the products sold in the first four months since its opening valuing more than 4 million euros", says Ostahie. Similar results are expected for this second shop. Starting from the autumn of 2004 Media Galaxy is going to have two more stores in Bucharest, and starting from the next year they will be present in all the big cities of the country. The year 2006 is to be the year in which Media Galaxy will cross the borders towards Bulgaria, Serbia, Ukraine and Moldova.

Dan Ostahie said that, with the help of some partners, intends to found a society destined for the clients that buy using the call loan rate system. "If we are to have a viable business plan, we’ll go through with this society’, said the Altex representative.

In 2003, the Altex chain of shops sold products valuing more than 136 million euros, this means triple than the year before. For the year 2004, the Altex group estimates that the sales are to value approximately 200 million euros.

TAKEOVER

The Investment Fund AIG New Europe Fund negotiates the takeover of a small part of the share of Altex, the company that owns the Altex and Media Galaxy chains of stores. "I think that it would be better for us as well as for AIG if the negotiations should end before the end of this year. Otherwise, we have a plan B ready", said the Altex president, Dan Ostahie, without getting into more details. The Altex Group owns the Altex chain of stores, which is the leader on the electronics, convenience and IT market, the logistics firm transport 8TIM, the lump distribution and sales Italrantex, and Complet Electro Serv, which is based on IT systems (service and production). Altex is a 100% Romanian company founded in 1992.