Unieuro, the largest omnichannel distributor of consumer electronics and household appliances by number of points of sale in Italy, has acquired the Cerioni Group business unit consisting of 19 direct stores, currently operating under the Euronics brand. The transaction, subject to the occurrence of certain conditions precedent typical of this type of transaction, took place without the assumption of financial debts and/or towards suppliers, for a total value of 8 million euro, of which 1,6 million at the closing and 6,4 million to be paid in half-yearly installments over the next three years.
The transaction will be financed using available liquidity and credit lines made available by financial institutions. The stores will be taken over in stages e they will reopen between November and December, in time to benefit from the favorable seasonality of the last quarter of the year.
Founded in the province of Ancona in 1980 and member of Euronics since 1996, the Cerioni Group currently has 20 points of sale and is the leading electronics distribution chain in the Marche region (13 stores), with a significant presence in Emilia Romagna (7 stores)
As happened for the previous acquisitions, Unieuro will be able to leverage its centralized business model – with a single management office in Forlì and a centralized logistics hub in Piacenza – to quickly and effectively integrate the new points of sale, obtaining incremental revenues of 90 million euros over 12-18 months, against a profitability that is already positive today and destined to align itself with the Company's targets in a time horizon of 18-24 months.
Giancarlo Nicosanti Monterastelli, CEO of Unieuro, declared: 'The acquisition of the assets of the Cerioni Group represents a further stage in the market consolidation process and projects us into a leadership position in central Italy. 'Being successful in acquiring over 40 points of sale from competitors in less than 6 months confirms our role as the main omni-channel consolidator of consumer electronics in Italy'.
