Lindex Group

M&A Activity • Oct 15, 2018

Disclosure 365224

Stockmann - Inside information

Stockmann to sell Nevsky Centre in St. Petersburg

STOCKMANN plc, Stock Exchange Release 16.10.2018 at 00:45 EET Stockmann plc has signed an agreement to sell its Nevsky Centre shopping centre property in St. Petersburg, Russia, to PPF Real Estate for a purchase price of EUR 171 million. The value of the Nevsky Center property in the balance sheet on 1.1.2018 was EUR 181 million. The transaction includes Stockmann’s fully-owned Russian subsidiary, OOO Stockmann Nevsky Centre, which owns 100% of the Nevsky Centre property. The closing is subject to approval from the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service. The aim is to close the transaction and transfer the ownership of the company by the end of 2018. The divestment has a positive cash flow effect after taxes of approximately EUR 139 million. The divestment will lower Real Estate division’s EBIT annually by EUR 17 million, which is partly offset by the Group’s reduced financial costs. ”We are very pleased to have found a professional real estate investor as a new owner for Nevsky Centre, committed to develop further this great shopping centre in the heart of St. Petersburg. The divestment enables Stockmann to fully focus on developing its department store properties in Finland and the Baltic countries. At the same time, it gives us financial flexibility and a possibility to deleverage the Group’s balance sheet," says Lauri Veijalainen, CEO of Stockmann. The Nevsky Centre opened in November 2010, and has today over 90 retail and office tenants with a gross leasable area of 46 000 square metres. The anchor tenant of the shopping centre is AO Stockmann (Reviva Holdings Limited) which has owned the Stockmann department stores in Russia since 1 February 2016. After the divestment of Nevsky Centre, the Stockmann Group has no longer any own operations in Russia. PPF Real Estate manages assets of EUR 2.0 billion in the real estate markets in Europe and Russia. Its mission is to create value by investing in and managing properties, and looking for new investment opportunities in the real estate sector. PPF Real Estate is part of PPF Group, an investment company founded by Petr Kellner in the Czech Republic in 1991. PPF Group’s assets world-wide currently exceed EUR 38 billion. http://www.ppfrealestate.com/ru Further information: Lauri Veijalainen, CEO, tel. +358 9 121 5062 www.stockmanngroup.com (http://www.stockmanngroup.com/en/en) STOCKMANN plc Lauri Veijalainen CEO Distribution: Nasdaq Helsinki Principal media