ICA starts Cura pharmacy

Solna, Sweden, February 17, 2010

This spring, ICA will open the doors to Cura – a completely new, full-scale pharmacy located inside large ICA stores around Sweden. The first Cura pharmacy will open before summer, and ICAs goal is to have over 100 of these drugstores ready within two to three years.

With a totally new name, extended store hours and good locations, Cura, ICAs new pharmacy concept is soon ready for launch. The Cura pharmacy will offer a carefully selected range of medications and will primarily be located in ICAs larger stores: ICA Maxi and ICA Kvantum. This shop-in-shop concept means that all Cura pharmacies will offer the same extended hours as ICA stores.

"ICA will provide customers with better service and strongly contribute to the development of Swedens new pharmacy market. We are not merely changing signs on old pharmacies. We are building a completely new concept. With Curas good locations and extended opening hours, it will be one of Swedens most accessible pharmacies – every day of the week," says Kenneth Bengtsson, President and CEO of ICA AB.

Every shop-in-shop will have its own pharmacy manager, on-staff pharmacists and pharmacy technicians.

The Cura pharmacy will offer a wide range of both nonprescription and prescription medications as well as its health and beauty products. As more stores open, the plan is to expand the product range.

Cura pharmacies will open here This spring, Cura pharmacies will open in: Botkyrka, Göteborg, Halmstad (2 locations), Haninge, Helsingborg, Häggvik, Karlskrona, Kungälv, Linköping, Malmö, Mora, Motala, Södertälje, Stockholm (Lindhagen), Solna, Västerås, Växjö and Ängelholm. The aim is to have broad-based retail network right from the start.

Curas logotype and a conceptual drawing* are enclosed with this press release.

For further information, please contact: ICAs press hotline, phone +46 70 253 66 60

*Drawing produced by Hedvall & Gille Arkitekter

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About ICA The ICA Group (ICA AB) is one of the Nordic regions leading retail companies, with around 2,220 of its own and retailer-owned stores in Sweden, Norway and in the Baltic States. The Group includes the retail companies ICA Sweden, ICA Norway and Rimi Baltic. ICA also offers financial services to Swedish customers through ICA Bank. ICA AB is a joint venture 40% owned by Hakon Invest AB and 60% by Royal Ahold N.V. of the Netherlands. According to a shareholder agreement, Royal Ahold and Hakon Invest jointly share controlling influence over ICA AB. Through Royal Ahold, ICA AB is part of an international retail network. For more information, please visit http://www.ica.se