Greece’s Public Power Corp. is in talks to acquire Flanco Smart Discounter, one of Romania’s largest consumer-electronics retailers, in a move that could deepen the utility’s presence in a market that has become central to its regional expansion.
PPC, Greece’s dominant electricity company, is holding discussions with Flanco owner Iulian Stanciu over a potential transaction, according to people familiar with the matter. The talks are continuing and no agreement has been reached.
For PPC, led by Chief Executive Georgios Stassis, a deal could give the Athens-based group a Romanian counterpart to Kotsovolos, the Greek electronics chain PPC acquired in 2024, and another physical platform through which it could sell energy-related products and services.
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Flanco is one of Romania’s best-known retail brands. Founded in 1994, it was the country’s first major consumer-electronics chain established after the fall of communism. Stanciu took control in 2010, when Flanco was undergoing insolvency and restructuring, acquiring shares from creditor banks including ING, UniCredit and BRD. He subsequently rebuilt and expanded the business.
Today, Flanco operates more than 150 stores across roughly 70 Romanian cities, alongside an e-commerce operation. That network could offer PPC an unusually broad consumer-facing footprint in a country where the Greek utility has already invested heavily in electricity distribution, renewable energy and supply.
The potential acquisition comes as Stanciu retreats from day-to-day retail operations and shifts toward investing. He has described his strategy as a transition from active retail entrepreneur to investor, and a sale of Flanco would mark another step in that direction.
But PPC would be buying a business under considerable financial strain.
Flanco recorded its third consecutive annual loss in 2025. Revenue fell to about €271.4 million, equivalent to roughly $318 million, from €282.1 million a year earlier. Net losses widened more than fivefold to €13.2 million from around €2.5 million.
The balance sheet has also weakened. At the end of 2025, Flanco reported assets of roughly €98.8 million against liabilities of about €99.1 million. Equity had fallen to just €840,000 from approximately €2.1 million a year earlier, prompting Stanciu to inject around €11.9 million of additional capital. The company employed an average of 1,443 people during the year.
Those numbers make valuation particularly important.
The strategic case for PPC would rest largely on whether it can turn Flanco into what Kotsovolos is becoming in Greece: not simply a seller of televisions, smartphones and appliances, but a distribution network for a broader range of household energy products and services.
The economics of electronics retailing alone are unlikely to justify an aggressive purchase price. Kotsovolos generated €753.6 million in revenue in 2025 but reported net profit of only €16,000, illustrating the industry’s razor-thin margins. More significantly for PPC, however, the chain produced €60.5 million in operating cash flow, underscoring the potential value of a large retail platform even when accounting profits are modest.
A combination of Kotsovolos and Flanco could also create opportunities in procurement, logistics, technology infrastructure and services, giving PPC the beginnings of a larger Southeast European retail platform.
The bigger prize may be the connection with energy. PPC has been transforming itself from Greece’s former state electricity monopoly into a broader regional energy and infrastructure group, with Romania emerging as its most important market outside Greece. Flanco’s stores could eventually be used to market products ranging from electricity contracts and energy-efficiency solutions to smart-home technology and other electrification services.
That logic, however, depends heavily on price. Flanco’s deteriorating financial position means a buyer would need room to absorb restructuring costs and fund fresh investment. Paying too much could undermine the economics before the integration begins.
