We have advised Hong Kong, a Finnish discount retailer, and its owners in a transaction where 100% of the shares were sold to Rusta AB, a Swedish discount store chain. Hong Kong Group owns and operates 24 Hong Kong department stores, four garden centers in Finland and a webstore, which delivers to Finland, Sweden, and Russia. All the department stores sell general merchandise at discounted prices in many different product categories, including gardening, tools, outdoor & fishing, and houseware. The company was founded in 1989 and the Group has close to 500 employees and a turnover of around €100 million.
Rusta AB is a Swedish discount store retailer with a broad product range that is centred around home living. The company was founded in 1986 and has currently 90 stores in Sweden, 22 in Norway and two in Germany. The turnover of the company was €480m in 2017.
The combined entity will become the leading Nordic discount store group. The product offerings of the two companies complement each other well while the business philosophy is quite similar, forming a strong base for future development in Finland.
