Solna, 7 December 2006 - Today ICA AB and Dansk Supermarked have signed an agreement regarding ownership changes in Netto. ICA will reduce its stake in Netto from 50 percent to 5 percent. As part of the deal ICA will acquire 21 Netto stores in the Mälardalen area to convert some of them into ICA stores.
Netto Marknad AB was founded in August 2001 as a joint venture between ICA AB and Dansk Supermarked AS.
“In choosing between investing more in Netto and continuing to focus on the ICA formats, we now choose to concentrate on ICA”, says Kenneth Bengtsson, CEO and President ICA AB.
ICA will during a transition period operate the stores in the Mälardalen region under the Netto brand and is retaining a five percent holding in Netto to safeguard its interests in the company.
During the first nine months this year, the 21 Netto stores in the Mälardalen region had a turnover of in total SEK 464 million. Some of these stores will be converted to ICA stores and some will be divested. ICA will also assume responsibility for leased distribution centers along with personnel and stock in both stores and distribution units in the Mälardalen area.
In 2005, Netto had a net turnover of SEK 2,052 million and reported a loss of SEK 180 million. During the first nine months of 2006, Netto had a net turnover of SEK 1,788 million (1,510), of which ICA’s share of losses amounted to SEK 45 million (-60). Netto has 84 stores in Sweden and around 1,350 employees in total.
The agreement is generating a structural cost for ICA AB of approximately SEK 25 million during the fourth quarter. This transaction is subject to approval from the competition authorities, which is expected to be finalized in the first quarter of 2007.
About ICA
The ICA Group (ICA AB) is one of the Nordic region’s leading retail companies, with around 2,100 of its own and retailer-owned stores in Sweden and Norway. The Group includes the sales companies ICA Sverige, ICA Norge and Etos. ICA also offers financial services to Swedish customers through ICA Banken. ICA owns half of the companies Rimi Baltic, with 200 stores in the Baltic countries, and Netto Market, with nearly 80 stores in Sweden. ICA AB is a joint venture 40% owned by Hakon Invest AB and 60% by Royal Ahold N.V. of the Netherlands. Due to a shareholder agreement, neither party has control of the company and the two share equal voting power. Through Royal Ahold, ICA AB is part of an international retail network.