IKEA range, supply and production activities to be acquired by Inter IKEA Systems Holding B.V. from IKEA Group

The intention is to improve the IKEA franchise system and enable the two groups of companies to focus on their respective core businesses and build further on the IKEA success.

IKEA Group, today owning and operating 322 stores in 28 countries, has an ambitious growth agenda, striving to become more accessible to customers.

“This new structure allows us to focus more on customers across all channels. We are increasing speed in transforming IKEA into a true multichannel retailer and are rolling out e-commerce in all markets in the next few years. We have recently expanded our shopping centre business. In a rapidly changing retail landscape this is an exciting agenda requiring full focus and energy,” says Peter Agnefjäll, President and CEO of IKEA Group.

The IKEA business is built on a franchise system established in the 1980s, with Inter IKEA Systems B.V. as owner of the concept and worldwide franchisor, and the IKEA Group as the largest franchisee with more than 90 percent of the IKEA sales. Inter IKEA Systems B.V. has been assigning the Range & Supply operations to IKEA Group since the 1980s. These will now be transferred to Inter IKEA Systems Holding B.V. IKEA Industry will also be part of the transaction, as production is closely linked to Range & Supply.

There will be no redundancies of people due to the transaction and all employment contracts and agreements will be respected. IKEA of Sweden, IKEA Supply and IKEA Industry will continue to operate with their bases in Älmhult (Sweden), Pratteln (Switzerland) and Malmö (Sweden), respectively.

The transaction will be completed as per 31 August 2016.

Press contact: Malin Pettersson-Beckeman, +46 709936376 or ikea.pr@ikea.com.