Lithuanian Competition Authority blocks Rimi Baltic´s acquisition of UAB Palink (IKI)
In October 2017 the Lithuanian Competition Authority gave clearance to Rimi Baltic´s acquisition of UAB Palink, which runs the IKI retail chain, under the condition that 17 specifi[c IKI and Rimi stores be sold prior to completion of the transaction. The authority has now rejected the store divestment proposals. This means that Rimi Baltic will not be able to complete the offer for UAB Palink.
In October 2017 the Lithuanian Competition Authority gave clearance to Rimi Baltic´s acquisition of UAB Palink, which runs the IKI retail chain, under the condition that 17 specifi[c IKI and Rimi stores be sold prior to completion of the transaction. The authority has now rejected the store divestment proposals. This means that Rimi Baltic will not be able to complete the offer for UAB Palink.
The authority rejects the proposals because they are uncertain of the buyers’ competitiveness and their long term commitment to each store.
- We are surprised and disappointed by the decision. We have thoroughly scanned the market for every possible buyer. We have filed several different options to the Lithuanian Competition Authority, with four different buyers. These were all pre-approved by a Trustee, that was appointed by the Competition Authority specifically to evaluate the buyers and the agreements, says Per Strömberg, CEO of ICA Gruppen.
- Lithuania continues to be an important market to ICA Gruppen, and we will now go back to our earlier focus on organic growth, says Per Strömberg.
It was in December 2016 that ICA Gruppen, through its subsidiary Rimi Baltic, signed the agreement to acquire UAB Palink, which runs the IKI retail chain with 232 stores in Lithuania.
This information is such that ICA Gruppen AB is obligated to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation and the Swedish Securities Market Act. The information was submitted for publication at time14.45 on Wednesday, April 18th2018.
For more information
ICA Gruppen press service, Telephone number: +46 10 422 52 52
ICA Gruppen AB (publ) is a leading retail company with a focus on food and health. The Group includes ICA Sweden and Rimi Baltic which mainly conduct grocery retail, ICA Real Estate which owns and manages properties, ICA Bank which offers financial services and Apotek Hjärtat which conducts pharmacy operations. The Group also includes Hemtex. For more information see icagruppen.se
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