Factbox: Companies sell their businesses in Russia

Wienerberger AG

28/03/2024 13:52

(Adds Embracer, Foraco, LPP and Wienerberger)
       March 28 (Reuters) - Some Western companies have sold
their Russian assets or handed them over to local managers to
comply with sanctions over the war in Ukraine and respond to
threats from the Kremlin that it may seize foreign-owned assets.
    The moves, part of a broader corporate exodus from Russia,
have prompted concerns that Russian companies and institutions
are snapping up prize assets at bargain prices.
    Below are some of the companies by sector that have sold
their businesses in Russia:

AUTOS
    CONTINENTAL  CONG.DE 
    The car parts manufacturer sold its Russian tyre plant to
Russian holding company S8 Capital in May 2023.
    RENAULT  RENA.PA 
    The French carmaker sold its majority stake in Avtovaz
 AVAZI_p.MM  to the Russian state in 2022, reportedly for only
one rouble but with a six-year option to buy it back.
    VOLKSWAGEN  VOWG_p.DE 
    The German carmaker completed the sale of its Kaluga
production plant and local subsidiaries in May 2023.

BANKS & INSURERS
    SOCIETE GENERALE  SOGN.PA 
    The French bank sold its Rosbank business to Russia's
Interros Capital in May 2022, taking a 3.1 billion euro ($3.38
billion) hit.

ENERGY
    SHELL  SHEL.L 
    The British energy and petrochemical company in 2022 sold
its Russian retail and lubricants business to Russia's Lukoil
 LKOH.MM .

FOOD & BEVERAGES
    AB INBEV  ABI.BR 
    The Belgian brewer agreed to sell its stake in joint venture
AB InBev Efes in April 2022, taking a $1.1 billion impairment.
    HEINEKEN  HEIN.AS 
    The Dutch brewer said on Aug. 25, 2023 it had exited Russia
after selling its operations there to Russia's Arnest Group for
a symbolic one euro.

FORESTRY & PACKAGING
    International Paper  IP.N  sold its 50% stake in a joint
venture to Russian shareholders in September 2023. Britain's
Mondi sold three packaging converting operations to Gotek Group
for 1.6 billion roubles and agreed to sell its largest plant in
Russia to Sezar Invest for 80 billion roubles.
    Finnish packaging maker Huhtamaki  HUH1V.HE  sold its
Russian operations for 151 million euros and forestry firm Stora
Enso  STERV.HE  exited the country with the sale of three
corrugated packaging plants to local management last year.

RESTAURANTS & RETAIL
    AMREST  EATP.WA 
    The restaurant operator in May 2023 closed the sale of its
KFC business in Russia to Smart Service for 100 million euros.
    IKEA
    Gazprombank Group bought 14 MEGA shopping centres in Russia
from a unit of IKEA operator Ingka Group for an undisclosed
price, the companies said on Sept. 28, 2023.
    INDITEX  ITX.MC 
    Moscow approved the sale of the Spanish fashion retailer's
Russian business to a UAE-based buyer in April 2023. The Zara
owner had agreed to sell its more than 500 stores in October
2022.
    LPP  LPPP.WA 
    The fashion group sold its Russian business in June 2022 to
a Chinese consortium and a former CEO of Russian company Re
Trading. The price for the stores was set at $135.5 million paid
over four years until 2026, and at 1.2 billion zlotys ($303
million) for the inventory. LPP recorded a 600-million zloty
loss on the sale, it said on March 18.
    
    MCDONALD'S  MCD.N 
    The U.S.-based restaurant chain sold its business in Russia
in 2022, taking a charge of $1.28 billion.

TOBACCO
    BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO  BATS.L  
    The maker of Camel and Lucky Strike cigarettes said on Sept.
7, 2023 it would sell its Russian and Belarusian businesses for
an undisclosed sum to a consortium led by members of its local
management team.
    IMPERIAL BRANDS  IMB.L 
    The British tobacco group transferred its Russian business
to investors based in Russia in April 2022.
    
OTHER
    EMBRACER  EMBRACb.ST  
    The Swedish gaming company has agreed to divest selected
assets from its subsidiary Saber Interactive for $247 million,
thereby ceasing all operations in Russia, it said on March 14.
    FORACO INTERNATIONAL  FAR.TO  
    The French mineral driller said on March 18 that it has
exited Russia with the sale of its shareholding in EDC Russia,
adding the deal resulted in a marginal net profit for the
company.
    POLYMETAL INTERNATIONAL  POLY.MM 
    Precious metals producer Polymetal said on March 11 it had
completed the sale of its Russian business to a Siberian gold
miner in a $3.69 billion deal including the business' $2.21
billion in net debt.
    VEON  VON.AS  
    Amsterdam-listed mobile telecoms operator Veon said on Oct.
9, 2023 it had completed its exit from Russia as it closed the
sale of its Russian business, Vimpelcom, to senior members of
the Vimpelcom management team, led by CEO Aleksander Torbakhov.
    WIENERBERGER  WBSV.VI  
    The Austrian brickmaker has exited the Russian market,
selling its factories in the Vladimir and Tatarstan regions,
business daily RBC reported on March 28, citing the company and
Russian corporate filings.
    XEROX HOLDINGS  XRX.O  
    Printer maker Xerox Holdings said on Oct. 11, 2023 it had
sold its operations in Russia to local management for an
undisclosed sum.
    YANDEX NV  YNDX.O  
    Shareholders of Yandex NV, a Dutch-registered firm which
operates an internet search engine, on March 7 approved the sale
of its Russian assets to a management-led consortium of Russian
investors for 475 billion roubles marking the biggest corporate
exit from the country since Moscow invaded Ukraine two years
ago.

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FACTBOX-Moscow takes control over assets of Western companies   
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 (Compiled by Augustin Turpin, Agnieszka Gosciak, Matteo
Allievi, Tristan Veyet, Paolo Laudani and Victor Goury-Laffont
in Gdansk; editing by Milla Nissi, Rod Nickel, Jason Neely and
Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
 ((paolo.laudani@thomsonreuters.com))