The official announcement last week that Romanian photo retailer F64 was to be taken over by a foreign investor was in fact a PR stunt.

At the press conference on Monday, December 16, the company revealed that in fact the retail chain will be taken over by...Saunta Claus in December.

Last week, the company was announcing via a press release that its founders had decided to sell the company, 12 ears after launching it. The founders Marian Alecsiu and Daniela Becheru said they would announce the name of the investor during the press conference on Monday.

The story was carried by most of the Romanian press.

With a EUR 18 million turnover in 2012, F64 hopes to grow to EUR 20 million in 2014.

F64 started out as a small business made by a group of friends but, over the years, it has become the place to buy all photo and video equipment, and anything related to photography, recently expanding its product offers with smartphones and tablets.

The company increased its business by 12 percent this year, despite the 15 percent drop on the photo equipment market. The retailer doubled sales of mirrorless cameras, while sales of compact and DSLR cameras were up 8.6 percent.

editor@romania-insider.com