Anttila to be sold nearly for free

Kesko Oyj (OMXH: KESBV) announced has decided to sell its Anttila department stores for one million Euros to German-led investment company 4K Invest International Ltd. The company is taking a 150 million charge on Q1 2015 for the deal. In 2014 Anttila had sales of 324 million Euros and posted a 64 million loss before exctraordinary items.

Tte Finnish retailing conglomerate also updates its outlook on the account of the deal. Profit without extraordinary items is now expected to improve on 2014, implying Kesko expected Anttila's losses to continue this year. Sales are now naturally projected to be down from last year. Some 1500 employees and 23 Anttila plus 9 Kodin1 stores continue operations as usual for now. Last year Kesko announced closures of several Anttila's.

4K invest acquires medium to large companies performing poorly and attempts to create value through restructuring or carve-out. It has a track record of deals in retail. There has been some overlap with the brands. Some Kodin1 and Anttila shops work in the same cities and eat into each other's sales. There is also a separate online store for both, netanttila.com and kodin1.com are a part of the deal. Kesko's K-Citymarket stores also have competing products on offering.