Ahold to Sell Stake in ICA to Hakon Invest

Ahold has reached an agreement with Hakon Invest of Sweden regarding the sale of Ahold's 60% holding in ICA, the Scandinavian retailer, for SEK 21.2 billion in cash (US$3.3 billion), which includes ICA's 2012 dividend of SEK 1.2 billion.

11 Feb 2013 --- Ahold presented a new growth strategy in 2011, and aims to focus the execution of this strategy on businesses it controls in order to create value. In September last year, Ahold started a review of strategic options for its stake in ICA.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals, as well as approval by the ICA Retailers' Association (ICA Forbundet) for the financing of the transaction. The transaction is expected to be completed in the middle of this year.

This transaction will have no direct impact on the joint activities of ICA and Ahold in areas such as sourcing and responsible retailing. These initiatives, which go back more than 30 years, are mutually beneficial and support business goals.

ICA is the market-leading food retailer in Sweden. It also operates ICA and Rimi stores in Norway, and Rimi stores in the Baltics. ICA operates 2,215 retailer-owned and company-operated retail food stores and had SEK 96,863 million in sales in 2012.