Norges Komplett buys Sweden’s NetOnNet for $ 420 million
(Bloomberg) – Norska Komplett ASA agreed to acquire NetOnNet AB in a deal that values the Swedish e-retailer at SEK 3.7 billion ($ 420 million) to create the second largest electronics retailer in the Nordic region.
Komplett buys the shares from SIBA Invest AB, NetOnNet’s sole shareholder, for SEK 1.5 billion in cash and 35.2 million own shares, the companies state in a statement. The merged company will have a market share of approximately 10% in the Nordic region, second only to Elkjop, part of Currys Plc, according to the statement.
“We can look the same from the outside, but we have many complementary strengths that will strengthen each other’s brands,” said NetOnNet’s CEO, Susanne Holmström, by phone.
Companies sell electronics and IT equipment mainly online, a market that they say is growing as consumers increasingly buy equipment on the web. The combination will reduce costs, mainly in purchasing, by SEK 200 million per year, with full effect within two years.
The acquisition price is “fair” and the merger should create a “leading online first electronics retailer in the Nordic region”, according to Ole Martin Westgaard, analyst at DNB Bank ASA.
Komplett will finance the cash consideration via a bridge loan of SEK 1.5 billion, which will be replaced with payment from the new share issue. SEB AB advised Komplett in the acquisition process and Carnegie Investment Bank AB advised SIBA Invest.
“It is a very good industrial logic as we will double the purchasing organization, and we are sure that there are significant synergies in combined purchasing and lower prices,” said Komplett’s CEO Lars Olav Olaussen in a telephone interview.
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