Catalyst Romania invests in Elefant.ro

Investment fund Catalyst Romania, administered by 3TS Capital, has bought a little over 10 percent of Universal Online Promotion, the company that owns online retailer www.elefant.ro, said Mihai Sfintescu, partner within 3TS Capital Partners.

“elefant.ro is a well known brand and a business that is growing rapidly. Our decision to invest is based on these factors, on the company’s general evolotion and on the management team’s abilities to understand and envision online commerce. Following this capital increase, we’ve entered the shareholder structure with a participation of 10 percent”, according to Sfintescu.

Details on the value of the investment were not released, but Sfintescu mentioned it is possible to set up another round of financing by the end of next year, at which point Catalyst Romania’s share could increase.

The shareholder structure for Universal Online Promotion will also change, with 5 percent of shares being awarded to the management team from now on.

Ion Sturza, former PM of Moldova and minor shareholder, mentioned that elefant.ro will use the financing to develop its marketing strategy, in order to attract more clients.

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There are no plans for Elefant.ro to expand outside of Romania as of yet, except for the Republic of Moldova where Sturza wants to set up a physical presence (ciitzens of Moldova can already order products off of the website).

Universal Online Promotion, the company that runs the Elefant.ro online bookstore, has announced in late August that it increased its share capital from RON 900,000 to RON 15,783,300 (EUR 3.5 million).