Monday, February 05, 2007
The Swedish Competition Authority has decided to approve the agreement that was signed between ICA AB and Dansk Supermarked regarding ownership changes in Netto. Therefore, the parties can proceed with the deal which will be finalized on February 12.
ICA announced on December 7 that it had the intention to reduce its ownership in Netto from 50 percent to 5 percent. As part of the deal ICA acquires 21 Netto stores in the Mälardalen area to convert some of them into ICA stores.
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. The agreement generated a structural cost for ICA AB of approximately SEK 25 million during the fourth quarter 2006.
Netto Marknad AB was founded in August 2001 as a joint venture between ICA AB and Dansk Supermarked AS.