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2009-06-15 08:30:00 CEST 2009-06-15 08:31:26 CEST REGULATED INFORMATION Oriola-KD Oyj - Company AnnouncementOriola-KD to join forces with KF on the Swedish pharmacy marketOriola-KD Corporation Stock Exchange Release 15 June 2009 at 9.30 a.m. Oriola-KD and KF (Kooperativa Förbundet) have agreed to join forces on the Swedish pharmacy market, which will be deregulated on 1 July 2009. The cooperation comprises of preparation for the divestment process of Apoteket AB's pharmacy clusters and the establishment of new pharmacies, mainly in conjunction with Coop's hyper and supermarkets owned by KF. The target of Oriola-KD and KF is to establish a joint venture, in which Oriola-KD would hold the majority ownership and be responsible for the development and management of the pharmacy chain. A precondition for the establishment of the joint venture is the acquisition of a sufficient number of pharmacies in the pharmacy cluster divestment process, which would make the creation of a significant new pharmacy chain possible. Kronans Droghandel, which is owned by Oriola-KD, has more than 100 years experience in the Swedish pharmaceutical market. KF has a long term experience of the Swedish retail market. The joint venture would operate under the Kronans Droghandel brand. Oriola-KD continues to actively develop its pharmaceutical wholesale and healthcare trade businesses in Sweden. These businesses are fully owned subsidiaries of Oriola-KD. After the deregulation of the Swedish pharmacy market, also other actors than Apoteket AB are allowed to run pharmacies. In conjunction with the deregulation, 466 pharmacies will be sold to large and midsize companies and around 150 of the pharmacies remaining in state ownership will be sold to entrepreneurs and small business owners in a separate process. Apoteket AB will retain 330 pharmacies. There are currently some 946 pharmacies in Sweden. Oriola-KD Corporation Eero Hautaniemi President and CEO Kimmo Virtanen Executive Vice President and CFO For additional information, contact: Eero Hautaniemi President and CEO tel. +358 10 429 2109 email: eero.hautaniemi@oriola-kd.com Kimmo Virtanen Executive Vice President and CFO tel. +358 10 429 2069 e-mail: kimmo.virtanen@oriola-kd.com Distribution: NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd. Principal media Published by: Oriola-KD Corporation Corporate Communications Orionintie 5 FI-02200 Espoo www.oriola-kd.com |
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