Potential buyer of Plus will have to find zł.1 billion

The value of firm is estimated at over zł.1 billion. "Negotiations with interested entities are under way," said Rzeczpospolita's source. Negotiations are being conducted with, among others, Carrefour and Tesco but, "We do not plan to sell the company, we have investment plans related to the Polish market," said Christa Golly from the press office of Tengelmann. The 200+ strong network of Plus stores posted 2006 revenues of zł.1.4 billion. Tesco and Carrefour also did not want to comment on the potential transaction. "As a rule we do not comment on speculation," said Renata Juszkiewicz, director of Metro AG representative office in Poland. Experts agree that the Polish market is ready for consolidation, as the three leading retail chains only control 15% of total sales. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers, by 2010 only 5-6 large retail chains of the total 20 will remain on the market. (Rzeczpospolita, pp. A1, B1) M.M.