International financial services company Dollar Financial Group, Inc. recently took over Romanian pawn shop chain Express Credit Amanet, in a multi-million euro deal. The American company, with a USD 1.1 billion turnover in 2012, took over entirely the local company which had been set up in 1999 by Bogdan and Ioana Gheorghiu, with a first pawn shop unit in the Romanian city of Iasi. Law firm Ţuca Zbârcea & Asociaţii assisted the seller, while DLA Piper assisted the American buyer.

The negotiations for this takeover lasted for about a year, according to the lawyers. According to Iasi - based media, the deal was worth some EUR 5 million. The Romanian company's turnover in 2011 was of some EUR 5.5 million.

The Romanian firm was initially called Electro Gold, and re-branded as ExpressCredit Amanet in 2008. The company started expanding in 2002 with a second unit in Iasi, and in 2005 it opened three more units in the same city. In 2008, it had eight agencies in Iasi. It currently has 29 units in Iasi and nearby areas.

Dollar Financial Group has been serving un-banked and under-banked consumers, as well as small business owners for the last 30 years and is present in nine European countries, apart from Romania. It has over 1,400 retail locations. The closest markets to Romania are the Czech Republic, with the Money Now!® brand, and Poland, under the Optima® brand. In 2012, the company began offering unsecured short-term loans via the Internet through the OK Money brand in Poland. It is as yet unclear whether the Romanian brand will be kept or re-branded under one of the American company's other international brands. Dollar Financial Group is listed on the Nasdaq market.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: Express Credit Amanet)