Reitan Servicehandel closes 131-million-euro acquisition of R-Kiosk chain

Sanoma has said that it closed the deal, worth around 130.7 million euros, to sell more than 1,000 kiosks in Finland, Estonia and Lithuania, as well as its press distribution operations in Estonia and Lithuania and the Rautakirja trademark.

In Lithuania, the Norwegian company has purchased R-Kiosk stores, Lietuvos Spauda (Lithuanian Press) kiosks and the press distributor Impress Teva.

The acquisition makes Reitan Servicehandel Europe's second largest convenience store operator after France's Lagardere. It will now manage more than 2,500 stores with combined annual revenue of about 1.9 billion euros and 18,000 employees in seven countries.

Lietuvos Spauda's Vilnius agency, a company of the Rautakirja Group, owned the R-Kiosk chain in Lithuania before the transaction. Currently, 27 R-Kiosk stores operate in Lithuania's five major cities and in the seaside resort of Palanga.

Lietuvos Spauda owns a chain of 260 kiosks. The company's sales revenue dropped by 11.4 percent in 2010 compared with 2009 to 99.757 million litas (EUR 29 m).