Stockholm - Swedish furniture giant Ikea said Thursday it had sold its trademark to one of its own subsidiaries for nine billion euros (11 billion dollars), the first time the company has put a book value on the brand.
Ikea, which has a complex ownership structure, said its Liechtenstein-based Interogo Foundation had sold the brand name to subsidiary Inter Ikea Systems on January 1, 2012.
The transaction was aimed at “consolidating and simplifying the group's structure,” Inter Ikea Group's head of communications Anders Bylund told AFP.
The move was “an internal transaction, which has no external effects” but the trademark “now has a book value,” he said.
Bylund said external experts had evaluated the brand's worth, and no rebate had been given even though it was an internal deal.
Interogo gave Inter Ikea Systems a capital injection of 3.6 billion euros to finance the transaction, and a loan of 5.4 billion, Bylund added.
Ikea is an unlisted, family-owned company founded in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad, who at age 86 is still actively involved in the running of the business and who frequently appears on lists of the world's richest people. - Sapa-AFP