Kesko completes acquisition of Suomen Lähikauppa

Kesko Food Ltd., a subsidiary of Kesko Corp., Helsinki, Finland, said it acquired the whole share capital of of Suomen Lähikauppa Oy from the private equity investment firm Triton. Suomen Lähikauppa's Siwa and Valintatalo stores will be converted into K-market stores. Kesko will start converting the Siwa and Valintatalo stores into K-markets in May. The Siwa and Valintatalo stores will be converted into K-markets in stages and the objective is to transfer all stores to K-retailers within the next two years. As the store network expands, Kesko will recruit and train hundreds of new K-retailers. At the same time, an extensive renewal of the entire K-market chain will begin. In the next few years, hundreds of new retailers will be recruited to run the new K-food stores.

"With the acquisition of Suomen Lähikauppa and the extensive K-market renewal, the neighbourhood retail services valued by Finnish consumers will improve significantly," said Jorma Rauhala, executive vice president and senior vice president for the grocery trade, Kesko. "The renewed K-markets will form Finland's most comprehensive and service oriented neighbourhood store network. These neighbourhood stores of the 2020s will offer a fresh and wide selection, comprehensive services and a reliable, competitive price level, all of it easily and fast. The visual image of K-markets will also be redesigned."