Salling Group buys Rimi Baltic
Ica Group sells Rimi Baltic to the Danish Salling Group. ICA will use the capital injection to invest more in the Swedish market, the only market ICA are aiming at right now, according to CEO Nina Jönsson.
Ica Group is divesting Rimi Baltic, which is the group's wholly owned grocery operations in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The buyer is the Danish Salling Group.
The agreement includes 314 stores, a strong e-commerce platform, warehouses, and distribution centres across the Baltics and more than 11,000 employees. In 2024, Rimi Baltics achieved a turnover of EUR 1.9 billion and an operating profit (pre-IFRS) of EUR 74 million.
The contract is the largest in Salling Group's history. The aim is to create a more robust Salling Group with several strong business areas. With the acquisition of Rimi Baltic, Salling Group's total number of stores across Denmark, Germany, Poland as well as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania will be close to 2,100 employing nearly 70,000 people.
“Rimi is a well-run company with more than 11,000 skilled colleagues and 314 stores characterized by high store standards and a unique customer focus across Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. We look forward to building on our strong market position as the second largest player in the Baltics and offering Baltic customers the best shopping experience when they shop at Rimi,” declares CEO of Salling Group, Anders Hagh.
A transaction price of EUR 1.3 billion has been agreed on a debt-free basis, corresponding to a multiple of 6.8xEBITDA 2024 (IFRS).
ICA concentrates on Sweden only
“We will now focus our business on the Swedish market. I am pleased that Rimi Baltic can continue its journey with a new owner who has ambitions to grow internationally. In this way, the transaction will benefit both ICA Gruppen, Rimi Baltic, their customers and employees,” says Nina Jönsson, CEO of ICA Gruppen.
ICA no longer has international ambitions. Rimi Norway was sold many years ago at a gigantic loss. Now the Baltic business is being sold, but with accounting gains in the billions. Anyway, an era is over – ICA Sweden will now concentrate on Sweden only.
The internationalization work that began with Roland Fahlin in the nineties and was further developed by Kenneth Bengtsson and Per Strömberg is discontinued. Nina Jönsson has realized that ICA is Swedish and thrives best in Sweden.
Sources: ICA, Salling Group, and others.