EU – Baltic States, Markets and Companies, Retail

As reported, the Finland-based Sanoma Corporation has on Sunday agreed on sale of its kiosks in Finland, Lithuania and Estonia as well as its press distribution operations in Estonia and Lithuania to the Norwegian Reitan Servicehandel AS for an enterprise value of 130.7 million euros.

If the development plans of Reitan Servicehandel are carried out, the R-Kiosks will start competing with small grocery stores more noticeably than before.

Magnus Reitan, CEO of Reitan Servicehandel AS, says that the familiar blue and yellow logo and livery, which are part of the Finnish urban landscape, are to remain untouched, but the product range will contain more fresh food items and coffee varieties than today.

The family enterprise Reitangruppen (the Reitan Group) owns the kiosk chain of Narvesen in Norway and that of Pressbyrå in Sweden.

The concepts of Narvesen and Pressbyrå resemble that of the R-Kiosks, but according to Magnus Reitan, their sales structure is different, as the R-Kiosks are more focusing on "traditional kiosk products", including cigarettes & tobacco as well as sports betting and gaming products.

The Reitan Group – or Reitangruppen – is the fifth largest company in Norway. Reitangruppen comprises four business areas: REMA 1000, Reitan Servicehandel, Reitan Real Estate and the Uno-X Group. Reitangruppen is also holding 15.64% of Axfood. Reitan Group's head office is at Lade Gaard in Trondheim, the Reitan Group's cultural and financial center. REMA 1000 and Reitan Servicehandel has its operational center in Oslo, while Reitan Real Estate is based in Trondheim. Uno-X is based in Oslo and Copenhagen.

Reitangruppen had a turnover in 2011 (including franchise sales) for 63 billion NOK, employs 27.500 people in Scandinavia and Latvia.

Sanoma is a diversified media group, it brings information, experiences, education and entertainment to millions of people every day. The company makes sure that quality content and interesting products and services are easily available and meet the demands of our readers, viewers and listeners.

It offers a challenging and interesting working environment for nearly 15,000 people in over 20 countries. In 2011, the group's net sales totaled 2.7 billion euros.