Stockmann's board chairperson, Sari Pohjonen, said the name change would not affect the brand or daily business of the department stores.
In 2022, Lindex reported revenue of 661 million euros, accounting for more than two thirds of Stockmann's revenue. The fashion company was also a major contributor to the group, with a operating profit of 90 million euros, keeping its parent company afloat despite the losses of the department stores.
Stockmann vowed on Monday that the name change would better reflect the growing importance of Lindex.
The strategic assessment is to be finalised by the end of next year.
Rauli Juva, a stock analyst at Inderes, said the likelihood of Stockmann divesting its department store business had increased significantly. Pohjonen, though, did not speculate on the fate of the department stores in an interview with the daily newspaper.
She said it is completely premature to even try to guess how likely a given option is.
She also declined to provide an answer to whether preliminary discussions about the possible divestment had already taken place, underscoring that changes in the ownership structure are only one of the options the company is considering in order to establish the best possible preconditions for developing its business.
One option, she said, is splitting the department store into a separate business.
Retail operations have naturally been affected by the pandemic and many other things, he said. Stockmann Group hasn't been immune to these things in recent years, she said.
In December 2022, Stockmann launched a restructuring programme that is nearing its completion, according to an interim report published last summer.
Juva on Monday told Helsingin Sanomat that the lack of an update on the programme suggests the completion is not exactly imminent. However, he and his colleagues do not believe that the programme could become an obstacle to the possible sale of the department store business or other arrangements.