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The information below comes from the UK Activity Report.
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Kingfisher Kingfisher has raised £73m from the sale and leaseback of its B&Q distribution centres in Nottinghamshire, and the proceeds will be invested in its store opening programme. 02-Aug-2007 Kingfisher is planning to expand its chain of four Trade Depot DIY stores to nine over the next 15 months. 04-Dec-2006 Kingfisher is planning to expand its chain of 30 Screwfix Direct outlets to 100 by next year, having appointed Colliers CRE to find suitable sites. 23-Oct-2006 Kingfisher is planning to refurbish 110 B&Q Warehouse stores over the next three years, at a cost of up to £200m. 24-Jul-2006 Kingfisher is planning to open 15 more Screwfix Direct trade counters over the next year, to add to the existing 19. 03-Jul-2006 Kingfisher is planning to open 50 Trade Depot building products stores over the next five years, with the creation of 1,300 jobs. 30-Jan-2006 Kingfisher is planning to open 15 Screwfix Direct and five Trade Depot stores next year, in order to target small general builders and contractors. 24-Oct-2005 Kingfisher is to scale down the development of B&Q superstores due to rising rents, and will instead favour "mini-warehouses". 30-May-2005 Kingfisher is to open five B&Q Warehouse branches this year, while its smaller chain of Mini-Warehouses will be expanded with 22 more conversions and ten new sites. 21-Mar-2005 Kingfisher is planning to open more than 100 Castorama warehouse stores in Poland over the next five years. 04-Oct-2004 Kingfisher is to reorganise its Screwfix Direct tools business, including the development of a new head office in Yeovil, the opening of a new distribution depot in Stoke-on-Trent and the closure of a depot in Leicester. 02-Feb-2004 Kingfisher has announced plans to launch a chain of 50 mini-warehouse stores under its B&Q brand, with the creation of 1,500 jobs. 04-Nov-2003 Kingfisher has sold Nomi, the Polish DIY retailer with 39 stores, to Enterprise Investors for £7m. 16-Sep-2003 Kingfisher is planning to expand its global network of DIY sourcing offices over the next few years, in order to improve the management of its B&Q supply chain. 15-Sep-2003 Kingfisher has sold Dubois Materiaux, its French builders merchant subsidiary, to Saint-Gobain for £69m. 14-Jul-2003 Kingfisher is to sell Reno-Depot, its Canadian chain of 20 home improvement stores, to RONA for £155m. 24-Apr-2003 Kingfisher is to sell a portfolio of 15 retail parks and five development sites to a consortium led by Pillar Property and Capital & Regional for £695m. 23-Jan-2003 Kingfisher has agreed to sell ProMarkt, the German electrical retailer, back to its founders for a nominal sum. 20-Jan-2003 Kingfisher is planning to open 77 Comet electrical megastores over the next five years, with many replacing existing smaller sites. 02-Dec-2002 Kingfisher is looking to sell 15 retail parks and five development sites held by its Chartwell Land property division for about £500m, as part of a strategy to focus on DIY retailing. 12-Nov-2002 Kingfisher has paid £36m to increase its stake in German DIY retailer Hornbach to 21%. 14-Oct-2002 Kingfisher is to raise £2bn in a rights issue to fund the £3.3bn acquisition of a 45% stake in French DIY retailer Castorama, and the balance will be funded by a new debt facility. 09-Jul-2002 Kingfisher has announced plans to spin off its electrical retailing business and spend £3.2bn buying the remaining 45% of Castorama, as part of a strategy to focus on DIY. 16-May-2002 Kingfisher is planning to relocate its head office to a 54,000 sq ft building at Paddington Central development in London. 11-Mar-2002 Kingfisher is to sell Time Retail Finance, its Leeds-based financial services operation, to GE Capital for £149m, as part of a strategy to focus on DIY and electrical retailing. 29-Jan-2002 Kingfisher has announced plans to open 70 Comet electrical stores over the next five years, with the creation of 3,000 jobs. 17-Jan-2002 Kingfisher is to acquire a 12.5% stake in Hornbach, the German DIY retailer, for an estimated £70m. 28-Nov-2001 Kingfisher has sold a portfolio of 182 Woolworths and Superdrug properties to a joint venture between London & Regional Properties and Goldman Sachs' Whitehall Fund for £614m. 14-Aug-2001 Kingfisher is linking up with Hornbach of Germany to acquire an undisclosed stake in Dekor, the US DIY retailer. 06-Aug-2001 Kingfisher is to shed 100 jobs in its Woolworths online retailing operation, in order to focus on the sale of CDs, videos and computer games. 06-Aug-2001 Kingfisher is to sell its Superdrug health and beauty stores to Kruidvat of the Netherlands for £310m. 04-Jul-2001 Kingfisher has announced plans to demerge Woolworths and Superdrug, having called off talks about selling the two retailing businesses. 06-Jun-2001 Kingfisher has appointed Credit Suisse First Boston to sell off about 180 of its 804 Woolworths high street properties in a sale and leaseback arrangement that will raise about £600m. 15-May-2001 Kingfisher is planning to shed up to 40 central office jobs at Woolworths, which will affect sites in London, Swindon and Castleton. 07-May-2001 Kingfisher has announced plans to build a Big W superstore on a site near Corporation Bridge in Grimsby, as part of a £25m retail development that will create almost 300 jobs. 03-May-2001 Kingfisher is considering plans to develop a Big W superstore in Coatbridge, and is also looking at potential sites in Aberdeen, Dundee and Inverness. 30-Apr-2001 Kingfisher is recruiting up to 250 staff in Derby in preparation for the opening of two Woolworths stores at sites in the Eagle Centre and Normanton Road. 14-Mar-2001 Kingfisher is planning to open 15 Comet electrical stores a year, and will gradually sell off its smaller stores to concentrate on 220 "destination" stores. 12-Mar-2001 Kingfisher is considering plans to shed 40 jobs at the Superdrug head office following a business review. 26-Feb-2001 Kingfisher is considering plans to sell Wegert, its German electrical retailing business, due to ongoing losses. 19-Feb-2001 Kingfisher's Superdrug division is to launch a home delivery service in partnership with M-box, and the products will be carried on Express Dairies' milk floats. 19-Feb-2001 Kingfisher is to accelerate the roll-out of its Big W superstores, opening one a month to reach 60 by 2005. 09-Feb-2001 Kingfisher is said to have received three takeover offers for its Superdrug health and beauty retailing business, which is valued at up to £350m. 08-Feb-2001 Kingfisher is to sell its 35% stake in LibertySurf, the French internet service provider, to Tiscali of Italy for £149m. 09-Jan-2001 Kingfisher is planning to open 25 B&Q Warehouse stores in 2001 with the creation of more than 4,000 jobs. 02-Jan-2001 Sainsbury has sold its Homebase DIY chain to Schroder Ventures for £416m, in a complex deal that involves Kingfisher taking 28 development sites and Sainsbury retaining certain freehold properties on a sale and leaseback agreement. 02-Jan-2001 Kingfisher has announced plans to open 58 B&Q stores in China over the next five years at a cost of £300m, as part of a strategy to create the first global DIY business. 11-Dec-2000 Kingfisher is preparing plans for the national roll out of its new Woolworths General Store format, which will involve 100 new stores and the conversion of 300 existing stores over the next five years. 11-Dec-2000 Kingfisher is seeking permission to build a Big W store in east Hull, as part of a £20m development that will create up to 400 jobs. 23-Nov-2000 Kingfisher has bought an 85% stake in Streets Online, the internet-based music retailer, for £16m. 01-Nov-2000 Kingfisher is to take over the C&A store in Doncaster in order to open a new Superdrug outlet. 27-Sep-2000 Kingfisher is to demerge Woolworths and Superdrug from the B&Q and Comet chains next spring, in order to facilitate international expansion for its DIY and electrical businesses. 14-Sep-2000 Kingfisher has agreed to take six former C&A stores to set up new Woolworths outlets. 01-Sep-2000 Kingfisher is to set up a 30,000 sq ft Comet electrical store at the Anglia Park development in Ipswich, which is due to open later this year. 24-Aug-2000 Kingfisher is to open a £7m Big W superstore at the Victoria shopping centre in Bradford in November, with the creation of 200 jobs. 03-Aug-2000 Kingfisher is planning to build a 65,000 sq ft Big W superstore in Newark, with the creation of more than 230 jobs. 16-Jun-2000 Kingfisher is to invest £55m in its electronic retailing activities this year, and is also interested in making further acquisitions to boost its e-commerce presence. 14-Jun-2000 Kingfisher is to open a 230,000 sq ft distribution warehouse for its Screwfix DIY mail order business at Braunstone in Leicestershire next month, with the creation of up to 300 jobs. 05-Apr-2000 Kingfisher is to invest £60m in its internet retailing operations this year, and has also announced the formation of five e-commerce business units - electrical, DIY, health, home and investments in other internet businesses. 23-Mar-2000 Kingfisher is planning to open 300 Woolworths convenience stores over the next four years. 22-Mar-2000 Kingfisher is planning to set up a B&Q store on two floors in Sutton, and the concept could be rolled out to other areas where land supply is short. 28-Feb-2000 Kingfisher is acquiring a 22.5% stake in Virtuelle Bau-Markt, the German internet retailer that specialises in DIY products, for undisclosed terms. 11-Feb-2000 Kingfisher is to test a new convenience store format in a partnership between its Woolworth and Superdrug divisions, and the first outlet will be in Palmers Green, North London. 31-Jan-2000 Kingfisher is in merger discussions with Metro of Germany, which could lead to the creation of a pan-European retailing group. 21-Jan-2000 Kingfisher is to increase its investment in store openings, with capital expenditure expected to reach £1bn this year, while £50m will be spent on internet development. 12-Jan-2000 Kingfisher is planning to open 15 more B&Q Warehouse DIY stores this year with the creation of up to 2,000 jobs, and about 200 new jobs will be created at its Screwfix mail order business. 04-Jan-2000 Kingfisher is to open a Big W superstore at the Filton Retail Park in Bristol. 13-Dec-1999 Kingfisher is launching a Woolworths web site to sell about 350 products, including CDs and toys, in the run-up to Christmas. 22-Nov-1999 Kingfisher is to invest £1.5m in the development of a national call centre in Hull for its Comet electrical retailing business, creating up to 300 jobs. 18-Nov-1999 Kingfisher is acquiring Hugo Van Praag, the Belgian electrical retailer, for up to £20m. 11-Nov-1999 Kingfisher has confirmed plans to open up to 10 Big W discount stores, with the creation of more than 2,000 jobs. 27-Oct-1999 Kingfisher is to open a Big W superstore in Coventry in October with the creation of 250 jobs. 30-Sep-1999 Kingfisher is planning to open a second BigW general merchandise superstore in Coventry, as the pilot store in Edinburgh is said to be performing well. 16-Sep-1999 Kingfisher is linking up with AOL Europe to launch the Netscape Online subscription-free internet service, which will be available in Woolworths outlets. 25-Aug-1999 Kingfisher has confirmed the acquisition of Screwfix, the mail-order and internet DIY business, for about £75m. 28-Jul-1999 Kingfisher is planning to acquire Screwfix, the DIY mail order company, and is expected to invest in the internet side of the business. 22-Jul-1999 Kingfisher is closing the Stockton head office of the recently-acquired Dickens DIY chain, and 18 buyers are being offered jobs at its base in Hampshire. 18-May-1999 Kingfisher is linking up with Group Arnault to launch a free internet access service in France called Libertysurf, which will be available through Kingfisher's French stores and then extended to other countries in continental Europe. 28-Apr-1999 Kingfisher has bought 10 Homeworld stores from Co-operative Retail Services for £80m, and plans to convert four into the Big W general merchandise format and two into B&Q Warehouses. 27-Apr-1999 Kingfisher is acquiring Dickens, the North East DIY group, for about £27m, and will convert at least four of the five outlets to the B&Q format. 23-Apr-1999 Co-operative Retail Services is in negotiations to sell its 12 Homeworld stores to Kingfisher for about £120m and its 39 Living department stores to construction group Miller for about £65m. 22-Apr-1999 Kingfisher is in merger discussions with Asda, which would create Europe's fifth biggest retailer with sales of more than £19bn. 17-Apr-1999 Kingfisher is planning to open 103 new stores with the creation of 4,800 jobs, and has also announced a strategy to develop its business in continental Europe. 18-Mar-1999 Kingfisher is considering plans to expand its chain of B&Q DIY stores by buying out-of-town superstores from Co-operative Retail Services. 01-Mar-1999 Kingfisher is in discussions with property companies about plans to develop a chain of Woolworth's discount stores in out-of-town locations, and a trial store is expected to be built at Kinnaird near Edinburgh. 25-Feb-1999 Kingfisher is to open a 70,000 sq ft DIY sore in Shanghai in June, through a joint venture between B&Q and Shanghai Home-Dec Building Materials. 09-Dec-1998 Kingfisher's Chartwell Land property division is buying a retail warehouse park in Croydon from Brixton Estate for £32m. 27-Nov-1998 Kingfisher has acquired Electrical City, the Singapore electrical retail chain, for undisclosed terms, and will use it as a base to expand further into south-east Asia. 30-Oct-1998 Kingfisher is to merge its B&Q business with Castorama of France to create Europe's largest DIY retailing group and allow major cost savings. 26-Sep-1998 Kingfisher has launched a £47m takeover bid for VCI, the video publisher, trumping an agreed bid from Scottish Media. 22-Sep-1998 Kingfisher is considering plans to open out-of-town Woolworths stores, and is to set up a 70,000 sq ft retail shed outside Edinburgh next year. 11-Sep-1998 Kingfisher is to acquire Polish Life Improvement, Poland's largest DIY retailer, for about £16m, its first move into eastern Europe. 09-Sep-1998 Kingfisher is discussing the possible acquisition of Castorama, the French DIY retailer, for about £2bn, although other forms of co-operation between the two companies are also on the agenda. 11-Aug-1998 Kingfisher is to increase its stake in BUT, the French electrical retailer, from 26% to about 62% at a cost of £103m, and will combine the business with its pan-European Kingfisher Electrical Retailing division. 24-Jun-1998 Asda and Kingfisher are said to have called off possible merger talks, although Asda says the discussions were to explore ways of working together in areas where the two retailers overlap. 18-May-1998 Kingfisher is buying 60% stakes in two German electrical retailers - Wegert Verwaltungs and Promarkt Holding - for £49m, as part of a strategy to create a global retailing business. 06-May-1998 Kingfisher has acquired F-Beat Records, the owner of the Demon Records music company, for about £2m. 07-Apr-1998 Kingfisher says it could afford to spend up to £1bn on a European acquisition, and has also announced plans to expand the Woolworths home shopping catalogue following successful trials. 19-Mar-1998 Kingfisher has opened its new Hong Kong regional office from where it plans to expand its Asian DIY and electrical retailing activities. 11-Mar-1998 B&Q is planning to open six new warehouse stores in 1998, including outlets in Birmingham, Stockport and Warrington, creating 1,500 jobs. 29-Dec-1997 Kingfisher has ended talks over the £225m acquisition of But, the French retailer, apparently due to concern over the prospects for the French economy and a reluctance to move into furniture retailing. 14-Oct-1997 Kingfisher is in discussions to acquire BUT, the French electrical and furniture retailer in which it already holds a 26% stake. 25-Jul-1997 Littlewoods is to restructure its chain of 135 high street stores with a possible flotation in a few years time, having failed to agree terms to sell the business to Kingfisher. 01-Jul-1997 Kingfisher is acquiring BCC Holding Amstelveen, the Dutch electrical retailer with 17 stores, for £34m. 21-May-1997 Kingfisher is to close 28 of its out-of-town electrical stores and shed 1,500 jobs as part of the integration of Norweb Retail with its Comet chain. 18-Jan-1997 Kingfisher is considering a £300m bid for control of BUT, the French furniture and electricals retailer in which it already has a 20% stake. 16-Jan-1997 Kingfisher, the retail group, has sold its 50% stake in the Staples office supplies superstores to Staples, its US partner, for £23.5m. 12-Dec-1996 Kingfisher is in discussions to acquire the Norweb white-goods chain of shops from United Utilities. 07-Oct-1996 Kingfisher has increased its stake in BUT, the French electrical retailer, from 20% to 26%, for £25m. 27-Jun-1996 Kingfisher is looking for savings of £20m a year at B&Q, the DIY chain, through improved presentation of products, better stock control and paying more attention to the supply chain. 28-Mar-1996 Kingfisher is acquiring a 20% stake in BUT, the French electrical and furniture retailer, for £59m. 11-Jan-1996 Kingfisher saw increased sales in the third quarter, with Woolworths up 2.7%, Comet up 4.3% and B&Q up 4% (all including new floor space). 07-Dec-1995 The information above comes from the UK Activity Report Copyright UK Business Park 1995-2007