Sweden: Salling Group to acquire Rimi Baltic from ICA Gruppen

Denmark’s largest retailer Salling Group has acquired Rimi Baltic, a retail chain active in the Baltic States, from Swedish grocery retailer ICA Gruppen for €1.3 billion ($1.4 billion), excluding debt.

The deal, reportedly the largest in Salling Group’s history, is described as being in line with the ambitions of the company’s Aspire ’28 business strategy, which it launched last year.

ICA Gruppen is a retailer franchise with a focus on food and health. The group also has interests in banking, real estate and pharmacies.

The Rimi Baltic grocery retail business operates 314 stores in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and has a workforce of 11,000.

Commenting on the deal, ICA Gruppen CEO Nina Jönsson said: “We are proud of Rimi Baltic’s strong performance and our shared history over 28 years, and we are now divesting a strong and healthy business. […] It’s also good to know that Rimi Baltic will be able to continue its journey with a new owner that has the ambition to grow internationally”.

Sources: Rimi Balti / Reuters