The online store is administered by two companies, Dante International (B2B) and Emag International (B2C), both subject to sales negotiations. “We have not signed anything. Absolutely no such thing has happened,” said Radu Apostolescu, the company’s most important shareholder. Horia Manda, First Vice President of the RAEF investment fund did not wish to comment on this information. One thing is certain. Radu Apostolescu and his three associates, Vlad Bogdan Marian, Dan Teodorescu and Gabriel Dumitrescu were recently faced with an acute need for liquidity. This is a reality known by several managers of funds, and classical retail competitors. All signs on the market indicate that eMAG’s problems have two causes: income will increase less this year than expected by its shareholders, and banks are no longer lending to companies or individuals. eMAG officials estimated at the beginning of the year that sales would amount to €140-150 million, while two weeks ago Apostolescu declared to MONEY Express that revenue would be a mere €100-110 mln. eMAG was being eyed by numerous investment funds and strategic investors even before the start of the financial crisis. One of the funds interested in the e-tailer was Tiger Global Management, shareholder of Neogen and eJobs online businesses. At the time, eMag was valuated at €35-40 million. To date, Manda’s only involvement in the IT and ancillary business sector is a minority in Bitdefender, a Romanian information technology security solution producer. Last year, eMAG posted profit of €680,000, and turnover worth €69.4 million. (B.P.)
