Kesko Oyj (KKOYY) M&A Call Transcript

Hanna Jaakkola
Vice President of Investor Relations

Welcome to this special briefing. Just a moment ago, Kesko announced that it will acquire Dahl’s operations in Sweden, Norway and Denmark from the French company, Saint-Gobain. Through the transaction, Kesko will significantly strengthen its position in technical trade business in the Nordics. But without further ado, I will hand over to President and CEO, Jorma Rauhala. Please, Jorma, the stage is yours.

Jorma Rauhala
President, CEO & Member of Group Management Board

Thank you, Hanna. Welcome also on my behalf. These are indeed great news. We have had a very busy weekend and the acquisition was actually signed just a moment ago. I’m very pleased to announce that our long-term strategic target to grow significantly, particularly in technical trade is now becoming a reality. For years, we have been looking for major acquisition opportunities, especially in technical trade in the Nordic region and attractive targets are extremely rare. When I have previously been asked what would be a strategic theme target? It would be exactly this. Dahl is a strong player in Sweden, Norway and Denmark with no overlapping operations. Technical Trade is based on centralized logistics, strong digital services and skilled personnel. This is exactly what we are now acquiring.

After the completion, this acquisition will take us to the next level in the growing technical trade business in Nordics, and I’m extremely pleased and happy. Now to our presentation. Kesko strengthens technical trade by acquiring the