EM&F said late Friday it expected the transaction to be finalised by the end of May. Excluding debt, the purchase price was 634.8 million zlotys, it said in a statement.

The first Smyk store opened in Warsaw in 1952. Now the chain counts 152 stores in Poland.

EM&F said there was potential for Smyk's sales to grow 11-percent a year because Poles spend less money on their children compared with parents in western Europe.

EM&F, which debuted on the Warsaw bourse in 1997, also includes fashion and book stores. The company's major shareholders are two private equity funds, Eastbridge Group and Penta Investments.

($1 = 4.1045 zlotys)

(Reporting by Agnieszka Barteczko; Editing by Mark Potter)

Stocks treated in this article : Eastbridge Investments PLC, Empik Media & Fashion SA