Noriel toy brand taken over by Polish investment group

Noriel stores have been purchased by the Enterprise Investors Polish investment group that also controls Profi supermarket chains.

The sellers are the Constantinescu family, who set up the famous toy store in the first place, and a fund managed by Axxess Capital.

The Polish investors will be the only shareholders of the Romanian toy brand. The transaction amount has not been revealed. However, according to the deal, the new owner will invest EUR 2m to develop the toy store network.

The taking over is waiting for the Competition Council’s go ahead.

“The performance reached by Noriel in the past years is impressive, and Enterprise Investors can continue this upward trend by creating new opportunities for Noriel in the upcoming years,” said Jacek Woźniak, Enterprise Investors partner, as quoted by Biz magazine. “Our goal is to turn every visit to Noriel into a memorable experience for children and their families,” he pledged.

According to Serban Roman, Country Director Enterprise Investors, the management team will be strengthened with experts, while targeting to double the number of Noriel stores in the upcoming years.

Noriel has a chain of 47 stores in 27 cities and a strong online platform.

The company was founded in 1995 by Constantinescu family. In 1999 the company created “Toys and Games”, the own division of carton game and puzzle production. In 2010 Noriel entered the retail market with the help of Balkan Accession Fund financial investor, setting up a chain of stores.

Last year, Noriel had its sales up by 26% compared to 2014, reaching EUR 30m.