Hornbach buys shares back

The Hornbach family is buying back from Kingfisher the minority stake held by the group in the common stock of Hornbach Holding AG. This information was provided today by the German DIY retailer. At the same time, in its annual report published today, the British DIY group of companies announced its intention of parting from its entire 21.2 per cent of Hornbach shares for around GBP 195 mio. “Through this buy-back the family ensures it retains the authority to shape any future utilization of Kingfisher’s block of voting shares,” commented Albrecht Hornbach, managing director of the Hornbach family trust company and chairman of the holding company. Kingfisher holds a qualified minority stake of 25 per cent plus two shares in the voting capital of Hornbach Holding AG. In addition to these unquoted ordinary shares, Kingfisher also owned 17.4 per cent of the quoted preference shares of Hornbach Holding AG, as well as 5.2 per cent of the holdings in the quoted common stock of Hornbach Baumarkt AG. Kingfisher has sold both of the quoted share blocks to an international group of institutional investors. With the acquisition in May 2013 of the 15 Bricostore DIY outlets in Romania and preparations for the entry of Screwfix, the group’s small trade format, into the German market that is planned for the summer of 2014, Kingfisher has for the first time come into direct competition with its German partner.