Romania's largest publishing house, Litera, founded in 1989 in Chisinau by Moldovan entrepreneur Anatol Vidrascu, announced it is taking over the online marketplace Elefant.ro from the insolvent online retailer Elefant Online, planning to turn it into a modern online platform for selling books, toys, stationery, and school supplies.

Before its insolvency was announced in 2024, Elefant was the second-largest marketplace in Romania.

Litera publishing house's activity peaked in 2021 when its turnover reached RON 92 million with a RON 10 million net profit. The turnover declined to RON 78 million in 2023, but the profit remained solid (RON 7.5 million).

Elefant.ro will be more than an online bookstore – it will become an intelligent digital ecosystem focused on innovation and connectivity, Litera announced.

"Romania has one of the lowest reading rates in Europe, and easy access to books is essential for the development of the market. The integration of Elefant.ro allows us to capitalize on the synergies between the companies and create an efficient, customer-oriented digital ecosystem. We are investing in technology, optimizing logistics processes, and expanding the offer in order to best meet the demands of modern consumers," announced the publishing house's co-founders, Dan and Marin Vidrașcu.

BDO Business Restructuring, a firm with extensive experience in auditing and financial restructuring of businesses, brokered the transaction.

Elefant Online was founded in 2010 as an online bookstore by former Moldovan prime minister Ion Sturza. Further, it developed into a marketplace during 2014-2016. In 2023 (the latest data available), its turnover halved to RON 94 million (EUR 20 million) while its losses stood at RON 20 million. Insolvency experts blamed it on the buyers returning to physical stores after the lockdown, according to Economedia.ro.

In 2023, after Elefant Online's losses doubled in 2022, Sturza reached an agreement to sell his 59% stake to evoMAG – an independent online retailer developed by Mihai Patrascu. At that time, the investment funds Axxess Capital and Catalyst Romania were holding 28% and 9.6% stakes in Elefant Online, respectively. 

However, the deal failed after Elefant's losses further deepened in 2023. Eventually, Sturza's online retailer entered insolvency in 2024, with Litera among its creditors. The largest creditors were Patria Bank (controlled by Elefant's shareholder Axxess Capital, RON 20 million) and evoMAG (RON 11 million), with the total volume of claims estimated at RON 46.5 million.

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Elefant.ro)