UK and international retailer Marks and Spencer Group is set to open 50 more Balkan stores after it acquired 50 percent of Marks & Spencer Marinopoulos—which operates 38 Marks & Spencer stores in Greece, a number of Balkan states including Romania and Bulgaria, and Switzerland—for 50 million euros.

Marks & Spencer, which plans to grow its international business to 15-20 percent of Group revenues within the next five years, has worked with The Marinopoulos Group for 30 years. The privately owned Greek company has exclusive rights to operate Marks & Spencer stores in Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, and Switzerland under a franchise agreement.

It also has rights to operate in Austria, Bosnia, and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Albania, and Montenegro where, currently, there are no Marks & Spencer stores.

Marks & Spencer director of international business Carl Leaver says, “We have an exciting opportunity to open many more Marks & Spencer stores in Greece and the Balkans and our joint venture with Marinopoulos will mean we can really put Marks & Spencer on the map in this part of the world. In Greece, we already have a solid platform to build on and there is a growing demand for great quality, good value Marks & Spencer products in markets like Romania and Bulgaria. We have worked with Marinopoulos for over 30 years and their retail expertise and local knowledge make them the ideal partner for us.”

Marinopoulos Brothers also has joint ventures with Carrefour, Starbucks, Sephora (a division of LVMH), Fnac (a division of PPR) and Grand Optical.