Nobia to divest its French kitchen chain Hygena

Nobia has received an offer to divest its French kitchen chain Hygena to Fournier SA, which manufactures and sells kitchens under the brands Mobalpa, Perene and SoCoo'c. Nobia intends to respond to the offer after consultation with employee representatives in accordance with French legal requirements.

Nobia’s intention to divest its French operations is a consequence of that Hygena the last years has impacted Nobia’s operating profit negatively, despite extensive actions and investments.

– With the Fournier Group, Hygena would get an owner with a long, successful history of French furniture trade, beneficial to both employees and customers, says Nobia President and CEO Morten Falkenberg. 

The offer includes all shares in Hygena Cuisines SAS for a purchase price of EUR 20 million on a cash and debt free basis, which is to be paid in cash upon completion of the transaction.

A divestment of Hygena would improve Nobia’s operating margin. For 2013, Hygena’s net sales amounted to EUR 142 million and its operating profit was negative EUR 12,6 million. The effect on Nobia’s profit for 2014 is expected to amount to negative SEK 500 million, primarily attributable to impairment of goodwill and deferred tax assets, and will be reported as restructuring cost.

Subject to Nobia’s acceptance of the offer, the transaction is expected to close during the fourth quarter 2014, conditional upon approval from the French competition authorities. 

Invitation to conference call
Nobia invites to a conference call today at 9:30 (CET) when President and CEO Morten Falkenberg and CFO Mikael Norman will comment the divestment of Hygena. The conference call will be webcasted live via the following link: http://www.media-server.com/m/s/qk9djpu2/lan/en. To participate in the telephone conference, and thereby be able to ask questions, please call:
Sweden: +46 (0)8 505 564 74
UK: +44 (0)203 364 5374
USA: +1 855 753 22 30

For more information:
Please contact any of the following on +46 (0)8 440 16 07 or +46 (0)70 595 51 00:
- Morten Falkenberg, President and CEO
- Mikael Norman, CFO 


Nobia develops and sells kitchens through some twenty strong brands in Europe, including Magnet in the UK; Hygena in France; HTH, Norema, Sigdal, Invita and Marbodal in Scandinavia; Petra, Parma and A la Carte in Finland; ewe, Intuo and FM in Austria, as well as Poggenpohl globally. Nobia generates profitability by combining economies of scale with attractive kitchen offerings. The Group has approximately 6,600 employees and net sales of about SEK 12 billion in 2013. The Nobia share is listed on the NASDAQ OMX Stockholm under the ticker NOBI. Website: www.nobia.com.