Maria group, controlled by Lebanese investors, will take over 50% of the Romanian mineral water bottler Aqua Bilbor for a price of EUR 12 million after the national competition body greenlighted the deal, Profit.ro announced.

The company owns a factory in Bilbor, Harghita county, and four depots across the country.

Maria Trading will hold 20% of Aqua Bilbor and Agro-Chirnogi 30%, according to Ziarul Financiar. Prime Capital Invest, controlled by local entrepreneur Băzăr Raluca Valentina, will retain a 50% stake.

Maria Trading is one of the largest owners of arable land in Romania, and Agro-Chirnogi is one of the most important growers of cereals and oilseed plants. Both are part of the Maria group (active in agriculture but also real estate development), controlled by Lebanese businessmen Jihad El-Khalil and Youssef Laoun.

In 2019, Aqua Bilbor took over Bilbor Mineral Water – the bankrupt bottler of mineral water that operated mineral water springs in Bilbor, Harghita County (Calimani mountains).

In March, Aqua Bilbor announced that it would continue the investment strategy initiated two years ago, amounting to over EUR 10 million, with a targeted completion by 2025. A similar EUR 10 million investment plan was announced in 2021 with a completion date of end-2023 and a final production capacity of 100 million liters per year. With the financial support of the new shareholder and the appointment of a new CEO – former deputy head of Apemin (the Employers' Association of Mineral Water Bottlers in Romania Apemin) Alin Gliga, the re-launched investment plan is more likely to succeed.

The planned investments include the completion of a new bottling and storage facility, as well as the expansion of the distribution network, which are key strategic elements in the upcoming period.

Under the investment strategy, Aqua Bilbor aims at significant expansion both nationally and internationally. The company plans to double its bottling capacity and increase the workforce at the Bilbor facility, the company said in March on the occasion of the appointment of new CEO Gliga.

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Han Han/Dreamstime.com)