Swedish and Icelandic investors acquire Belgium’s largest retail chain INNO

SKEL Investment Company and Axcent Scandinavia AB, which owns and operates the Swedish retail company Åhléns, have acquired the Belgian retail chain INNO, the largest retail chain in Belgium. Founded in 1897, INNO operates 16 department stores in prime service areas in all major Belgian cities. The retail chain offers popular brands in fashion, cosmetics, toys, home decor, household items, furniture, and many other product categories.

The company also operates online retail and wholesale and employs over a thousand people. Its turnover for the fiscal year 2023/2024 was 313.7 million euros and its EBITDA profit ratio was 3%. SKEL’s investment in the project amounts to about 3% of SKEL’s total assets.

Ásgeir Helgi Reykfjörð Gylfason, CEO of SKEL, stated that INNO is a strong retail chain and the only one of its kind in Belgium. He further added that the company has a long history and a solid customer base. The firm’s management has set ambitious growth plans that SKEL will support. Gylfason expressed pleasure that the purchase marked the beginning of a collaboration with the owners of Åhlens.

Åhléns was founded in 1899 and is one of the most famous stores in Sweden. The retail chain operates around 50 stores and department stores throughout Sweden, including 18 stores in Stockholm. Swedish entrepreneur Ayad Al-Saffar, the founder of Axcent of Scandinavia, bought Åhléns in 2022 along with the investment company Härstedt & Jansson Invest AB and has guided the company’s strategy and growth since then.