The European Commission does not envision any obstacles to healthy market competition and has given its approval to the Danish company, Salling Group to acquire the grocery retail company Rimi Baltic for EUR 1.3 billion from the Swedish retail company ICA Gruppen, thus marking a significant turn in the Baltic retail market. Following regulatory approval, the transaction between Salling Group and ICA Gruppen now enters a closing period, during which the financial elements of the deal will be finalised. The process is expected to conclude by June 2nd, 2025.
"I’m glad that this important deal can be completed in such a relatively short time. We are proud of Rimi Baltic's strong development and our shared history of more than 28 years, and we are divesting a strong and healthy company. I am particularly proud of the Baltic organization, which over the years has been able to adapt its operations to a changing environment and always come out as a winner. It also feels good to know that Rimi Baltic will be able to continue with a new owner who has the ambition to grow internationally. In this way, this transaction will benefit both ICA Gruppen and Rimi Baltic, as well as its customers and employees," says Nina Jönsson, CEO of ICA Gruppen.
“For many years, Rimi's professional team has delivered outstanding results, and we will continue to strengthen the company's market position. The experience of our colleagues will be extremely valuable and useful to our other stores in Denmark, Germany and Poland, so everyone will benefit. This is the biggest transaction in the history of Salling Group dating back almost 120 years, and we are genuinely proud to be acquiring a well-managed business that is renowned throughout the Baltics for its high quality standards and customer-oriented style of work,” stresses Salling Group CEO Anders Hagh.
“These changes will open up new growth opportunities for Rimi. The Salling Group and ourselves have shared strategic ambitions and a vision of how to develop grocery retailing in the Baltics in the future, and I firmly believe that this is a strong foundation for an extremely successful joint endeavour whose beneficiaries will be Rimi's employees, along with the company's owners and customers,” believes Rimi Baltic CEO Giedrius Bandzevicius.
Since 2007, Rimi has belonged to Sweden's biggest grocery retail company ICA Gruppen, and over the years it has grown into a financially powerful business: last year, Rimi's turnover reached EUR 1.9 billion. The Salling Group plans to retain the successful Rimi concept, simultaneously investing in the opening of new stores and in providing an even better shopping experience.
