UPDATED: The crisis-stricken grocery group Coop will have a new majority owner. This is the conclusion after six months of negotiations with the energy company OK, which will now take over half of Coop with a billion-dollar injection. Coop Danmark, which is behind the store chains SuperBrugsen, Kvickly and 365discount, writes in a press release.
The energy company will try to secure Coop's future by adding an investment of two billion kroner to the group. While OK will get half of the ownership, it will also have a controlling influence. Depending on developments, the ownership shares may vary, writes Coop.
- The agreement ensures peace of mind about Coop Danmark's finances - and thus also about the many OK stations, charging stations and car washes, which in many cases are owned and operated on a franchise basis by Coop Danmark or the independent user associations, says OK CEO Michael Løve, who has a past as director of, among others, Netto and SuperBrugsen.
At the same time, plans to establish a new, large store chain, which was supposed to have gone under the name "Coop", will be scrapped.
- Our experience shows that customers prefer SuperBrugsen and Kvickly. We are taking the consequences of this and are now fully focusing on our well-known brands, says CEO Kræn Østergaard Nielsen in the announcement.
- This also means that the remaining Irma stores will become SuperBrugsen instead of Coop chain stores, it says.
CEO steps down
The agreement also includes Kræn Østergaard Nielsen stepping down as CEO.
- I am happy and relieved that together with OK we have reached this significant and decisive agreement that secures the future of Coop Denmark., he says.
- But I am also convinced that it is best that Coop Denmark gets a new CEO with new energy and new perspectives when the agreement is fully in place.
There has been great unrest in recent years regarding Coop's finances, which, among other things, led to a record deficit of 628 million. DKK in 2022.
At that time, the group was undergoing a comprehensive restructuring that was to reduce the number of independent grocery chains. The new structure meant that Coop would go from having eight different chains to just three. In the wake of the historic accounts, positions were also cut en masse in an attempt to strengthen competitiveness.
According to information from the Danish Stock Exchange, the deficit for 2023 will be close to the level from the record year. The final figures are scheduled to be published on April 20.
/ritzau/
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