Kesko to divest Anttila to 4K INVEST

KESKO CORPORATION STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE 16.03.2015 AT 09.00 1(2)

Kesko to divest Anttila to 4K INVEST

Kesko divests the department store chain Anttila Oy to the German investment fund 4K INVEST. The divestment will improve Kesko's profitability and will make Kesko a more focused company. As a result of the transaction, Kesko has also updated its future outlook.

Kesko has today decided to sell Anttila Oy's share capital to the German investment fund 4K INVEST for €1 million. The transaction includes all assets and liabilities in Anttila Oy. Anttila operates 23 Anttila department stores, eight Kodin1 department stores, the online stores NetAnttila.com and Kodin1.com in Finland, subsidiaries in Estonia and Latvia, as well as the company's central functions in Finland. The stores will continue their ordinary course of business. Anttila Oy's approximately 1,500 employees will continue in the employment of the company. The date of the transaction is 16 March 2015.

Kesko will record an approximately €-130 million non-recurring item for the first quarter of 2015 relating to the financing, working capital and fixed assets of Anttila.

Anttila Oy's net sales in 2014 were €324 million and the operating loss excluding non-recurring items was €-64 million.

"The transaction is fully in line with our ambition to be a more focused operator. The enhancement measures we introduced last year to improve Anttila's profitability have progressed as planned and the transaction which has now been decided will provide a good basis for the development of Anttila's operations," says President and CEO Mikko Helander.

4K INVEST

4K INVEST is an investment fund registered in Luxembourg and managed in Munich, Germany. 4K INVEST is specialized in buying entities from international corporations in phases of strategic realignment. The 4K INVEST team has been acquiring and managing companies since 1992 and it actively manages its portfolio companies on a day-to-day basis. In the last years the management of 4K INVEST has completed the restructuring and successful IPO of Adler Modemaerkte, Germany, and Zielpunkt Austria and Woolworth Austria have been successfully restructured by the team.

Kesko has updated its future outlook

Kesko's outlook for 2015 has been updated due to Anttila's divestment. According to the updated future outlook, Kesko's net sales for 2015 are expected to be lower than the net sales for 2014 and the operating profit excluding non-recurring items for 2015 is expected to exceed the operating profit excluding non-recurring items for 2014.

In the financial statements release published on 10 February 2015, Kesko's guidance was that its net sales for 2015 are expected to equal the level of 2014 and that its operating profit excluding non-recurring items for 2015 is expected to equal or fall slightly short of the level of 2014.

Kesko holds a press conference on the divestment today, Monday 16 March 2015, at 14.00 EET in the Auditorium at Ankkurikatu 5, Helsinki.

Further information is available from Jukka Erlund, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer of Kesko Corporation, telephone +358 105 322 113, and Lauri Peltola, Senior Vice President, corporate responsibility, communications and stakeholder relations of Kesko Corporation, tel. +358 105 322 400.

Kesko Corporation

Merja Haverinen
Vice President, Group Communications

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