KappAhl Holding AB today announces a cash offer to the shareholders in AB Lindex to tender all outstanding shares in Lindex to KappAhl.
Christian W. Jansson, Managing director and CEO of KappAhl: "We are now taking another step in KappAhl's development towards becoming a corporate group operating several store networks with separate brands. Our intention is that KappAhl and Lindex will be the beginning of a portfolio of store networks with strong brands. The common denominator is fast moving consumer retail, preferably with an element of fashion. KappAhl and Lindex in one corporate group amount to two strong, restructured companies which will continue to develop independently, but where there are opportunities to educate and to economise within areas which are competition neutral. Together we can benefit from the economies of scale which exist within, among other areas, product sourcing, logistics and IT."
"The Offer will be financed with bank loans, some of which it is intended to refinance later this autumn, through a rights issue with preferential rights for existing shareholders. Pegatro Limited, which today owns 30 per cent of KappAhl's share capital, will subscribe for its part of the Rights Issue. The new group will therefore, for an interim period, have a higher debt level than is the case with KappAhl today and therefore, most likely, also have a reduced payout ratio. It is our belief that the strong cash flow in the company, together with the larger portion of debt financed capital, will create an attractive return on equity for the interim period during which the loans will be amortised."
