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This I think can only be good news for this region of Bulgaria, the Germans are very shrewed investers and they know a good thing when they see one so maybe things are changing now for the good

Bulgarian real estate fund FairPlay Properties and Lidl Bulgaria signed a deal on the sale of a 22 000 sq m plot in the Bulgarian city of Plovdiv on September 30 2009.

Lidl Bulgaria is the local arm of German hard discounter Lidl, part of Schwarzgruppe.

The transaction had a price tag of 2.3 million euro before value-added tax.

The plot would accommodate a Lidl supermarket and was part of the chain's local expansion efforts.

The retailer has been actively growing its Bulgarian network with new outlets in Lovech, Pazadjik, Pleven and Silistra currently under construction.

The Plovdiv plot is part of FairPlay's Retail Park Trakia developmen, which is planned in the city's residential area by the same name.

Fairplay said the park would house a hypermarket of a renown European non-food chain, though the company refused to name the chain.

Sources told Dnevnik that the property fund was in talks with several big retailers but pen had not put to paper yet.

FairPlay would use the proceeds of the sale to reduce its credit exposure, executive director Manyu Moravenov said.

After the Plovdiv deal, Fairplay has repaid 5.4 million euro in principals since the start of 2009.

I think Lidl is the better of all the cheaper shops here in the uk as far as quality is concerned so yes I look forward to shopping in a Lidl in Bulgaria

[size=75:cr26lw6b]novinite 8 January 2010

Tengelmann to Sell Plus Discount Stores in Bulgaria, Romania

German retailer Tengelmann is in talks to sell its discount retail chains in Romania and Bulgaria to its rival Lidl, which is part of Germany's Schwarz retail group, according to reports.

Tengelman, the parent company of Plus, owns 94 and 16 stores in Romania and Bulgaria respectively.

The news comes on the heels of reports that Lidl has indicated interest in acquiring the Bulgarian business of its German competitor Plus retail chain.

In 2007 and 2008 Plus sold its business in most European countries. For the last several years the chain has been active in Austria, Romania and Bulgaria, with divisions in those countries in May 2008 united under the name of Plus Eastern Europe.

According to realtors the economic crisis in the past year has proved fertile for the discount retailers stepping on Bulgarian soil in recent months and the country will see their boom in 2010.

Three food discount chains are currently operating in Bulgaria;
Kaufland, Penny Market and Plus.

Kaufland is a part of the Swartz Group which also owns Lidl. It is a soft discounter that entered the Bulgarian market in 2006 in Plovdiv. Now it is strongly positioned on the market with more than 26 hypermarkets.

Penny Market (Rewe Group) is another German soft discounter with an aggressive growth strategy for Bulgaria.

varnagirl wrote:

would be nice to have a lidles here

Looks like its you lucky day

Looks like its a lucky day for all in Bulgaria, Lidl stores are quite good and this can only be good news for all in Bulgaria

Lidl is a great supermarket I shop there often and they always have some real nice stuff you wouldn't find in the so called nomal supermarkets so its a chance to try something new at a good price

Good news for all the more interest there is in Bulgaria from Groups like this the better

sarah

[size=75:31vo8gf0]Regal retail news 20 February 2010

"
Lidl"
buy "
plus Romania and Bulgaria Plus"


"
Lidl"
assume leadership of the "
plus Romania and Bulgaria Plus"
the official release of the company, circulated on 19 February. In the late afternoon, the deal is passed before a notary.

With the assumption of leadership of both companies "
Lidl"
takes all commercial business "
Plus"
in both countries. As part of this transaction, all employees of the "
Plus"
will be adopted, "
it said in the message.

From "
Lidl"
state that the assumption of leadership will be implemented after receiving authorization from the EU's cartel office. While the verification of the company will not give an opinion on the subject.

All good news here this is looking good for Bulgaria

Excellent news...as most of my shopping is done in Lidl here in Spain...Hopefully they'll have one near VT.

[size=75:292fxjsz]Regal retail news 01 March 2010

"
Favorite in Germany sounds like Liebling im Deutschen Land or briefly LIDL. Germany's chain will soon be fighting for the love and the Bulgarian consumer"


Two days ago the deal was announced, with Lidl to buy a rival business in the country - Germany Plus. Thus with one stroke Lidl add 24 sites (23 active and one to detect) to its dozen waiting to be completed and open. We are building and logistic center of the chain, which is located in Elin Pelin, near Sofia, and size within the group of largest distribution facilities in the country. The chain, part of Germany's powerful group Schwarz, is preparing for a strong start on the Bulgarian market, and only a few months.

Expected deal

The news that stirred the commercial sector in recent days, was the official release Plus, part of Germany's Tengelmann, it reached an agreement with rival Lidl to sell his business to Bulgaria and Romania. This is the latest of a series of transactions since 2007, when Tengelmann started the chain sells in Europe to its competitors. In Poland, went to the shops Jeronimo Martens, in the Republic - to REWE, in Greece - to the Belgian Delhaize, in Hungary - to the Spar. Tengelmann in 2008 formed a joint venture in Germany with its main competitor EDEKA both companies united discount brand Plus and Netto. The aim was to create a player against other worthy competitors out there. They are all type hard discounter - stores at low prices and mostly their own brands. Such are the Lidl.

Two lines of policy Tengelmann - sale of international business and seeking partners for a strong position in Germany, explained the reason for the sale of Plus in Bulgaria. Deal expected for a long time. Plus much before to open its first stores, which occurred in the autumn of last year, Germany's call is to go before actually to enter the market. From 2006 until the opening of the first projects the company only bought land and collection team. Information in the Land Registry shows that currently there are over 50 Plus own land in Bulgaria. During this time the company was looking for who to sell, as talks are led by Germany and its competitors, learn Capital. Then a transaction is not reached.

Unlike now, when on February 18 came the official release for sale. It was about more than the last months of last year, when strict gentlemen even more stringent suits with briefcases hung black corridors of the office in Gorublyane Plus.

Two is more than one

Both companies in Bulgaria have confirmed the deal but do not want to communicate any details on the ground that the sale is awaiting approval of antitrust authorities. The price is also secret. According to representatives of the market Lidl have paid premium prices because they are strategic investors and have the same business Plus, after a merger occurs economies of scale. In evaluating the company as Plus is the operating business looking for workers shops that already have a few months history, experts commented. Moreover, the chain has a huge portfolio of sites that have an impact on her assessment is not clear what will happen to the property from approximately 1500 acres in grad who was provided for the logistic center. The buyer already has a second center would be unnecessary.

Lidl in the coming months will prepare the opening of its sites. Currently the company has built six stores and three are complete. The objective is the number of stores to be finished between 10 and 15 to enable the chain to open them simultaneously. Until then, must be ready and logistics center. And as before and during the summer season is risky to start a new business with such a scale, the premiere is left for the autumn.

Source of Capital said it is currently discussing what should happen to the stores Plus. Scales tend towards heavy objects to be bought in the colors of rebranding Lidl. But it will be gradual.

In the top three

Lidl debut in Bulgaria is likely to be strong. In addition to the first group of stores, the chain cooks and subsequent waves of expansion. Information in the land register shows that his name Lidl has about 30 pitch, all set to become a supermarket. With the purchase of Plus does the company have stores like yellow houses have access to large cities, but also to places like Knezha Berkovitsa Lukovit Nessebar and Toshevo. And will surely be one of the two largest chains, type hard discounter in Bulgaria. Another would be Penny.

There is one more important detail - part of the group Schwarz, Lidl is a strong partner in Bulgaria in the face of Kaufland. Both chains have one owner. Kaufland achieved net income in 2008 EUR 580 million (as reported by ICAP), which circuit board to second place in Bulgaria turnover. It is expected that last year its sales have approached 600 million. lv

Although no direct link between operational activity, the two companies is seen as a whole. Schwarz will group together to fight for top spot in the retail sector in Bulgaria. The main competitor is the other major group in Germany - REWE, which is present in Bulgaria to BILLA and Penny. Despite the crisis, REWE also confirmed the serious intentions for the Bulgarian market in the coming years. Janusz Kulik, who is a member of the Board of REWE International and is responsible for the business of supermarkets in Central and Eastern Europe, reported the Capital, that for the next five years BILLA will open at least 80 more stores in the country. Discount option of REWE also started its work last autumn, has built a logistics center and announced plans to aggressively enter the country. According to the Land Registry chain has more than 40 of its terrain.

The third game in

In the modern marketing objective of any foreign player to be in the top three on the market. Bulgaria is no exception to this rule and therefore big players strive to be among the first three. Metro and is now a leader in turnover, but with strong competitors behind. We see that the Schwarz (with Kaufland and Lidl) and REWE (with BILLA and Penny) will apparently secure positions for top three. So the fight for third player will be fought between Metro Cash & Carry and France's Carrefour. The first chain to remain called troika, the second to enter. However, Carrefour now has only one store in Burgas and preparing the opening of three more in the coming months, including in Sofia. For comparison - Metro has 11. Representatives of trade in the country in the coming months expect to witness a real competition between these two particular players. Moreover their strongest stores in Sofia will be at 1 km distance in a straight line. It seems that an interesting year ahead.

There are signs up here saying we are getting Plus Supermarket in Karlovo. Soooo, will that now be Lidl??!!

Well I would say that since Lidl have now bought them out then yes it may well be but then again they may still use the trading name of Plus ?

Well the area is all fenced off, so I guess we will have to wait and see!

[size=85:5o27jjk8]Dnevnik 30 June 2010
EC passes on Lidl, Plus deal to regulator

The European Commission (EC) has passed on to anti-trust regulators in Bulgaria and Romania the purchase of German group Tangelmann local Plus stores to international group Lidl.

The transaction involves 23 Bulgarian and 96 Romanian units.

Bulgaria’s Commission for Protection of Competition (CPC) said on Tuesday that the two companies have notified the Commission of their consolidation plans. Brussels, in turn, sent a copy to Bulgarian and Romanian competition authorities.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the Commission said that the deal would not affect competition in any other EU country and Bulgarian and Romanian regulators have the capacity to assess the deal’s impact on their respective markets.

Lidl has been weighing up options to set foot on the Bulgarian market for a couple of years now but still has not opened stores. It is expected to do so by the end of the year. Its competitor Plus opened its first Bulgarian store in 2009.

This is very good news the more the better as far as I'm concerned