Kesko sold a minority interest in its Baltic machi

KESKO CORPORATION STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE 10.02.2017 AT 17.00 1(2) 

Kesko sold a minority interest in its Baltic machinery trade subsidiaries to Danish Agro group

Kesko Corporation's subsidiary Konekesko Ltd has sold 45% of its Baltic subsidiaries' shares to Danish Agro a.m.b.a.'s group company DAVA Agravis Machinery Holding A/S. In the same context, an agreement was made on options to expand DAVA Agravis' ownership to include the whole share capital of the Baltic machinery trade companies and Danish Agro group's ownership to include Konekesko's agricultural machinery business in Finland.

In the transaction, Konekesko sold 45% of the share capital of its Baltic subsidiaries to DAVA Agravis. In addition to this, the parties agreed on DAVA Agravis' right to buy and Konekesko's right to sell the rest of the subsidiaries' shares by notifying about it no later than January 2019. In addition, the parties agreed on the option of Danish Agro's other subsidiary, Danish Agro Machinery Holding A/S, to buy and Konekesko's option to sell Konekesko's agricultural machinery trade functions in Finland by notifying about it no later than September 2020.

Konekesko's Baltic subsidiaries engage in the import, selling and servicing of agricultural, forest and construction machinery. Key brands represented by the companies include Claas tractors, combines and grassland machinery, Ponsse forest machinery, Kobelco excavators and Kubota mini excavators.

Kesko's strategic objective is to achieve growth in the Finnish grocery trade, the building and technical trade and the car trade.

"Machinery trade functions have grown and developed with strong principals. In view of Kesko's focus on strategic growth areas, it is good that the machinery trade operations can strengthen further as part of a larger entity and also improve the customer experience," says Antti Meriläinen, Senior Vice President for the agricultural and machinery trade.

In 2016, the pro forma net sales of the Baltic functions were €129 million and operating profit was approximately €5 million. The debt free price of the shares now sold is approximately €21 million, which has been paid in cash in connection with the closure of the transaction.

The completion of share and business transactions by using the call options or put options agreed in connection with the transaction is subject to obtaining permissions from the competition authorities and the fulfilment of the other terms and conditions of the transactions.

Further information: Antti Meriläinen, SVP, Kesko's agricultural and machinery trade, antti.jo.merilainen@kesko.fi, tel. +358 105 320 492

Kesko Corporation

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Konekesko is part of Kesko's agricultural and machinery trade unit, which belongs to the building and technical trade division. Konekesko is a machinery trade company that focuses on importing, trading and providing aftersales service for construction, materials handling, environmental and agricultural machinery, and recreational machinery. Konekesko operates in Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Danish Agro group consists of a number of agro-industrial companies in Denmark and abroad. The group mainly operates within the sale of feed mixes, ingredients and vitamin mixes, fertiliser, crop protection, seeds and energy, plus the purchase of crops from farmers. The group is also distributor of a number of strong farm machinery brands. Through the subsidiary DAVA Agravis Machinery Holding A/S, Danish Agro group and strategic partner Agravis Reiffeisen AG today own machinery activities in Estonia, Poland and the Czech Republic. Through the subsidiary Danish Agro Machinery Holding A/S, Danish Agro group today own machinery activities in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland. The Danish Agro group has around 5,000 employees and a budgeted turnover for 2017 of around EUR 4.3 billion.