The Swiss company JC Switzerland Holding (JCH) has bought 5.02 percent of Stockmann’s shares. The company comments on its investments via the communications agency Tekir.
– JC Switzerland Holding is very satisfied. They consider Stockmann an iconic company with a long history. They see many similarities with the European fashion houses they already own. The company sees a lot of potential and strength in both Lindex and Stockmann, says Johanna Henttonendirector at Tekir.
What is meant by potential?
– At this stage, they have not said what they want with their holding. They have only given an overall statement that they are satisfied with their share purchase.
Stockmann’s largest shareholder in November
The data is from 30 November and therefore does not include JC Holding. The list is updated at the end of each month. The list does not show shares owned via trustee registers.
The Art Society: 10.36 percent
Mutual Employment Pension Insurance Company Varma: 8.12 percent
The Swedish Literature Society in Finland: 7.47 percent
Hc Holding: 4.13 percent
Etolabolage: 3.89 percent
JC Switzerland Holding is a Swiss holding company that invests in European retail. The main part of the business comes from the fashion chain Peek & Cloppenburg, which has 161 department stores in 16 countries. In May 2021, JCH bought the Danish department store chain Magasin Du Nord.
Peek & Cloppenburg is a family-owned fashion company with headquarters in Düsseldorf and Vienna. The company is Europe’s leading textile retailer.Pavel Ševela/Wikimedia Commons
Jukka Naulapäädirector of legal affairs at Stockmann, notes that management did not know that something was going on, or who had sold their shares.
Listed companies are obliged to inform the public if an owner’s holdings exceed or fall below certain thresholds, and 5 percent is one such. Another is 10 percent. On Friday, the holding company exceeded the five percent limit.
– None of the major owners have flagged that their ownership share has decreased, says Naulapää.
Stockmann’s largest owner, Konstsamfundet, has at least not sold any of its holdings.
– It is good if someone who knows the industry wants to buy shares in the company. An owner comes in who has the readiness and capacity to invest. I look forward to working with them as an owner, says Stefan BjörkmanCEO of the Art Society.
The ownership base is changing
Not so long ago, Stockmann got another new major owner, the British venture capital company Northwall Capital.
The deal had a connection to Stockmann’s debt restructuring and was described in HBL as a purely financial maneuver. In August 2021, the company had a holding of 10.25 percent, i.e. roughly the same as the Art Society.
It is currently not possible to find out exactly how large a share the British company owns in Stockmann. Since 2021, no information has been published that the holding has exceeded or fallen below any limit value.
The company does not appear among the largest shareholders on Stockmann’s website because it is trustee-registered shares.
– Foreign investors often choose to hire a bank as an intermediary. They do not directly own their shares, but do so via a trustee register, explains Jukka Naulapää.
He says he is not sure if the new Swiss owner will appear on the list of major shareholders in the company.
Might want more
The analyst Rauli Juva at Inderes writes in a comment that the Swiss holding company might be interested in buying up all or parts of Stockmann, but that there are several obstacles.
It is difficult, or almost impossible, to carry out structural arrangements as long as the company is undergoing corporate restructuring. In addition, both the Art Society and Northwall Capital have the opportunity to stop a potential purchase.
“However, the restructuring does not in any way prevent, for example, making a purchase offer or buying all of Stockmann,” he writes in his comment.
