Belgian department store INNO bought by Axcent of Scandinavia

Belgian department store INNO has been acquired by Axcent of Scandinavia, the majority shareholder of Swedish department store chain Åhléns, and SKEL fjárfestingafélag, a publicly traded investment company with extensive experience in the consumer and retail sectors.

Today, the sale and purchase agreement was signed for the sale of all shares in INNO SA to INNOvative Retail BV, a newly established company jointly owned by Axcent of Scandinavia AB and SKEL. The transaction is expected to close in July 2024 and will bring INNO new owners with proven, successful and growing department store experience.

The parties have agreed to keep the purchase price confidential. On the sell-side, a team from Clairfields’ Frankfurt and Antwerp offices advised on the transaction, Arion Bank Investment Banking advised INNOvative Retail BV.

“I am grateful for this opportunity and excited to further develop INNO in the future. We will soon bring INNO to many more Belgian cities, where we will serve INNO’s loyal customers even better in new department stores,” says Swedish entrepreneur Ayad Al-Saffar, CEO and majority shareholder of Axcent of Scandinavia.

The consortium is delighted to enter the Belgian retail market. As a well-established player in Belgian retail, with the potential to serve local consumers even better, INNO represents a perfect strategic fit for both partners.

“We are proud to join forces with the Axcent of Scandinavia team and the INNO management to unlock the future potential of the company. INNO is a valuable brand with a long history and a strong customer base, and it has the potential to thrive in the modern retail landscape,” says Ásgeir Helgi Reykfjörð Gylfason, CEO of SKEL.

INNO in experienced retail hands, existing Belgian management ensures continuity

CEO Armin Devender and his management team look forward to developing new projects for the Belgian INNO department stores. “Thanks to INNO’s strategic repositioning in recent years, the company is once again in excellent health. As a modern omnichannel retailer, INNO is more than ready for the future and will fit seamlessly into Axcent/SKEL, which is a perfect match for INNO.

We have created the optimal breeding ground to grow faster in the coming years, strengthened by the retail knowledge and experience that the new owners bring with them. For example, there will be new opportunities to develop and distribute our own brands. Since the first discussions with Axcent/SKEL, we have also been thinking about an additional INNO store concept and the opening of new stores in Belgium,” says Armin Devender, CEO INNO.

About INNO

INNO is the only department store in Belgium with a wide range of premium and mainstream brands. The chain has been an integral part of the retail landscape of all major Belgian cities for almost 127 years and has been a partner to all Belgians in their daily lives for generations. INNO is one of the most important Belgian brands, with a loyal customer base that continues to grow. With inno.be, INNO has also been a major player in the Belgian online retail market since spring 2021. INNO offers Belgians an omnichannel shopping experience in which online and offline shopping convenience complement and reinforce each other.

About Axcent of Scandinavia

Ayad Al-Saffar has a long career in retail and branding. In the early 2000s, he acquired the retail chain Ur & Penn from the H&M family, which was founded in 1943 by the late Erling Persson (who later founded H&M). Ur & Penn is still owned by the Al-Saffar family. In the mid-2000s, Ayad Al-Saffar acquired the still very successful Dutch retail chain Lucardi, which also has stores in Belgium, and later the Dutch department store chain Kijkshop. In 2022, Ayad Al-Saffar, together with partners, acquired the Swedish department store chain Åhléns, which celebrates its 125th anniversary this year. He has extensive experience in revamping and expanding retail chains and has turned red figures into black figures in record time with each acquisition. Åhléns has 48 department stores in Sweden and made a profit for the first time in ten years in the past financial year. Åhléns opened a new department store in June and will open two more later this year.

About SKEL

SKEL is an investment company listed on Nasdaq Iceland. The company is a strategic investor that supports management teams and entrepreneurs in building businesses to create increased value. SKEL’s portfolio consists of both listed and unlisted equity investments in strategic sectors, including retail and consumer. SKEL’s management and board of directors have more than 30 years of international experience in the consumer and retail sectors, both operationally and as investors. Jón Ásgeir Jóhannesson, SKEL’s Chairman of the Board and Director of SKEL’s majority shareholder Strengur hf., has extensive experience in investing in and operating department stores. He and his investment partners led the turnaround of Magasin Du Nord and Illum and acquired House of Fraser in the UK. One of his partners in Strengur is Sigurður Bollason, an experienced investor in retail and fashion, such as Karen Millen and All Saints.