Romania's biggest online retailer, eMAG, said that the reports about its majority shareholder, South African e-commerce group Naspers, seeking a buyer for it were mere speculations.

"At the moment, there is no ongoing sales process," eMAG representatives told Economica.net.

The Romanian media quoted Mergermarket magazine reporting about Naspers having hired Goldman Sachs to advise on the eMAG sale. In its turn, Mergermarket quoted sources familiar with the deal.

The deal could take place next year, five sources familiar with the situation told Mergermarkets, adding that a sale was more likely than a public offering of shares (IPO). Naspers was considering a sale this year, but decided to postpone it until 2021, aiming to gain from eMAG's improved results amid the COVID-19 pandemic (and subsequent stronger online sales), said one source.

Mergermarket says that eMAG could draw the attention of the investment funds that bought the Allegro platform in Poland a few years ago. Naspers sold Allegro in 2016 to investment funds Cinven, Permira, and MidEuropa for USD 3.25 bln.

Allegro went public after a record IPO in Poland and became the most valuable company on the Warsaw Stock Exchange this week, reaching a market capitalization of about EUR 18 bln on Tuesday.

andrei@romania-insider.com

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