European Commission approves sale of Rimi Baltic

RIGA - The European Commission (EC) has allowed the Danish retail company Salling Group to acquire the retailer Rimi Baltic from the Swedish group ICA Gruppen, Inga Bite, head of public relations at Rimi Latvia, told LETA.

Bite explains that with the regulator's approval, the transaction will enter the final phase, during which its financial processes will be finalized. The transaction is expected to close by June 2 this year.

As LETA reported, Swedish retail group ICA Gruppen and Danish retailer Salling Group have agreed on a EUR 1.3 billion sale price for retailer Rimi Baltic, excluding debts.

According to the companies' representatives, the transaction includes 314 stores, an e-commerce platform, storage facilities and distribution centers across the Baltics and over 11,000 qualified employees.

According to information available on Salling Group's website, after the acquisition of Rimi Baltic, the total number of the group's stores in Denmark, Germany, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will grow to nearly 2,100, while the number of employees will rise above 68,000.

LETA also reported, Swedish retail group ICA Gruppen is selling Rimi Baltic retailer to Denmark's Salling Group, according to a statement released by the Swedish retailer.

ICA Gruppen's main market is Sweden, where in addition to its food retail operations, ICA Gruppen also conducts pharmacy, bank, insurance and real estate operations.

The group notes that the transaction will release funds, that will enable continued investments in and allocations of resources to the Swedish business to strengthen and broaden the customer offerings in our core Swedish market.

ICA Gruppen's food retail operation in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania is valued at EUR 1.3 billion, or approximately SEK 14.4 billion, according to the Swedish group's statement.

Rimi Baltic operates the Rimi retail chains in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.

Salling Group is Denmark's largest retail enterprise, which owns the Netto discount chain and several other retail chains in Europe, including Fotex and Bilka.

Salling Group is wholly owned by Salling Foundations.

Rimi Baltic posted EUR 1.809 million in Baltic turnover for 2023, which is an increase of 5.5 percent against a year before.

Rimi Latvija closed 2023 with a turnover of EUR 1.076 billion, an increase of 4.7 percent against 2022, and the company's profit rose 5.8 percent year-on-year to EUR 29.09 million.

Rimi Latvija, registered in January 1992 with a share capital of EUR 5, is owned by Swedish-registered Rimi Baltic.