Sykkylven, Norway – Qumei Home Furnishings has bought control of publicly listed Norwegian furniture maker Ekornes. The deal will officially close on 30 July if Qumei buys 4% more of the firm.
Qumei gains majority of Ekornes in friendly takeover
Olav Holst-Dyrnes, Ekornes' CEO
The Norwegian company claims to be one of the largest furniture manufacturers in Europe. It has five factories in Norway, one in the US, and three split between Thailand and Vietnam.
In 2017, it had sales of NOK 3.1bn ($380 m) and employed 2140 people.
On 4 June, it received a voluntary offer from Qumei Home Furnishings Group in which Qumei valued the Norwegian company at around NOK 5.7bn.
The offer was NOK 139/share, about 27% more than the Ekornes share price had been in in the month before the offer.
The Norwegian company's board unanimously approved the approach, which will be complete when Qumei controls 55.57% of Ekornes' shares.
On 24 July, QuMei announced that it has control of over 52% of the company.
According to documents filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange on 23 May 2018, Qumei is financing part of the purchase through a loan of up to CNY 2.1 bn ($309 m).
In an announcement, Olav Holst-Dyrness, CEO of Ekornes, said: 'We will benefit from Qumei's insight into Chinese consumers' design and product preference. We will gain accelerated access to the Chinese market.'
Rhihai Zhao, Qumei general manager, said: 'We look forward to introducing Ekornes' brands into the Chinese furniture market. We put great emphasis on protecting the value of the brands. We intend Ekornes will remain an independent business. There are no plans to move manufacturing to China.
Nora Larssen, is chair of Ekornes' board. She said Qumei originally approached Ekornes in 2017. Following this approach, she said: 'We met Qumei several times and visited the company in China. We have been impressed Qumei's ability to develop successful product and market in concepts. We see great potential for Ekornes under this new ownership.'
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