International market research company Nielsen bought the entire share package in Romanian company set up by the entrepreneur Octavian Badescu (in picture). Nielsen originally bought 51 percent of Retailplus Eastern Europe in 2011, and went on to buy the remainder of the shares earlier this year. Badescu thus made an exit from the business. The value of the deal was not disclosed.

The founder of the Retailplus Eastern Europe will focus on his other businesses, Sameday Courier, he said. He ran Retailplus Eastern Europe for the last three and a half years. Last year, the company had a turnover of around EUR 1.5 million, double the previous year. The Romanian company now covers Bulgaria, the former Yugoslavian countries and Albania.

Octavian Badescu founded Retailplus Eastern Europe in 2008, together with Gilad Hass and Nyr Manor. The company has become the market leader on the in store observation segment, according to its data, and works with clients such as Carlsberg, Heineken, Coca Cola and Unilever.

Badescu is known for having run and being a shareholder of Alo Curier between 2002 and 2006, and for having developed several niche business, such as Field Expert – which distributes flyers, Gift Express – online sales of gift cards, and Expert Flowers – online flower shop.

Nielsen provides consumer and media behavior data in over 100 countries. The group's total revenues in 2011 were of USD 5.5 billion.

editor@romania-insider.com