The German company Henkel is in the final phase of selling its Russian assets, said “Vedomosti” its representative. He did not name the buyer, but noted that “an agreement between the parties has not yet been signed”.
A source familiar with the details of the deal explained that 11 Henkel factories could be acquired by a consortium of investors, which includes shareholders of drugmaker Pharmstandard, investment firm Kismet Capital Ivan Tavrin and founders of the Elbrus fund. Capital.
These data were confirmed by the newspaper’s source, close to the company, which was also considering the purchase of assets, and one of the real estate advisers.
According to two Vedomosti sources, Pharmstandard shareholders will become the majority owners of Henkel’s Russian businesses. The interlocutors of the publication noted that the parties already have permission from the government commission to conclude an agreement. One of them explained that the agreement would include a condition on the possibility of buying the plants.
Vedomosti sources also added that after the factories are sold, they will continue to manufacture products under the Henkel brands. The amount of the transaction was not specified.
Henkel, which produces cleaning products and detergents under the Persil, Losk, Deni, Laska, Pemos, Pemolux, Vernel and other brands, began operating in Russia in 1991. The company’s enterprises are located in the regions of Perm, Engels, Leningrad, Moscow and Ulyanovsk. After the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, Henkel announced that he would withdraw from Russia and Belarus. In March last year, it stopped investing in Russian companies, but did not stop production and operations.
In December 2022, Kommersant writing that the general director of the representative office of the German company in Russia, Sergei Bykovsky, told the suppliers that the company would operate in Russia as an independent organization under the Lab Industries brand.
In August 2022, Henkel transferred its Russian and Belarusian assets to the “for sale” category. Marina Malakhatko, head of the CORE.XP retail department, noted that the manufacturer has not yet been able to find a buyer, because the German owner asked too high a price for the Russian company.
According to Mikhail Burmistrov, CEO of Infoline-analytics, the value of Henkel’s assets in Russia at the beginning of last year was 600 million euros, but in the summer of 2022, taking into account the departure of international brands from Russia , their price not exceed 150-180 million euros.
