British retail giant Dixons has signed a deal which will allow it to buy Russian electronics retailer Eldorado for $1.9 billion within the next six years.
Under the agreement, Dixons will have the exclusive right to take control of Eldorado before 2011 on the condition it acquires a 10 per cent stake by 2008, a media report said.
Dixons, which specialises in consumer electronics and household appliances, operates more than 1,400 stores in Britain, France, Italy, the Czech Republic, Greece and other European countries.
Eldorado has more than 620 similar stores across Russia and Ukraine and controls about 18-22 per cent of the country's booming electronics market, English language daily The Moscow Times reported.
"Close cooperation with leading specialist electrical retailer in Europe will enable us to accelerate Eldorado Group's ambitious growth plans and generate opportunities for both parties," Eldorado's founder and president Igor Yakovlev -- ranked Russia's 46th wealthiest man by Forbes -- said in a statement on Dixons' Web site.
"Russia is a market with enormous potential," Dixons' chief executive John Clare said in a statement. The household appliances and electronics market is poised to gain $1.3 billion by the end of this year, reaching a volume of $5.6 billion, according to Viktor Tskhovrebov, a retail analyst of Moscow-based Renaissance Capital. Despite a slowdown in economic growth, Russia still has the fastest growth rate in Europe.
