Dixons Group Plc, the consumer electronics retailer that revolutionized the UK’s internet market with its Freeserve subscription free ISP, has made a 444m pound ($712m) offer for 100% of Norwegian electrical and electronics retail chain Elkjop ASA.
Skarer-based Elkjop operates a network of 154 stores in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland, selling a mixture of electrical and electronic products, including communications products and PCs. Since August it also holds a 22.5%, the largest single stake, Norway’s first free ISP, Sense Communications International AS.
Dixons said it had already acquired over 50% of Elkjop prior to announcing its mandatory cash offer. Among those selling to the UK group are Telia/Telenor, the merged Swedish and Norwegian incumbent telco, which held an 11.5% stake in the Norwegian retailer.
Nadir Nalbant, a director of Oslo-based Sense, said he welcomed Dixons’ entry into Elkjop, bringing with it both its distribution power and its Freeserve know-how. Sense has recently signed agreements with both Telia and Telenor to resell minutes on their GSM networks (NBD 11/24/99).
