Russian retail giant Lenta to list on London Stock Exchange
Russian hypermarket chain Lenta has announced plans to list on the London Stock Exchange and then on MICEX in Moscow.
In statement issued today, Lenta said all current shareholders, excluding its management and directors, would be selling their stake and that new shares would be issued.
The three major selling shareholders will be TPG, which holds a 49.8% stake, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which holds a 21.5% stake, and VTB Capital Private Equity, which holds an 11.7% stake.
The initial public offering is expected to raise $1 billion for the shareholders.
Never Miss a Retail Update!Founded in 1993, Lenta has been pushing ahead with a programme of store roll-outs across Russia and plans to double its selling space over the next three years.
Lenta chief executive Jan Dunning said: “Our proposed offering represents a major milestone for us and comes at an exciting time in Lenta’s development.
“Over the past few years we have developed a distinctive, price-led hypermarket model with universal appeal and a focus on local assortment. Our efficient supply chain and standardised low-cost operating model enable us to provide customers with quality products at low prices. Our business model and flexible store formats have a proven ability to capture the growth potential in the Russian food retail market.”
Dunning added: “We are already the second largest hypermarket chain with 77 hypermarkets in 45 cities and 10 supermarkets in Moscow and the Moscow region as of year-end 2013, and in 2013 alone we increased total store selling space by 35%. We now plan to double our selling space over the next three years.”
In the year ending 31 December 2013, Lenta’s total sales grew 31.3% to RUB 144.3 billion while net profit increased by 38.1% to RUB 7.1 billion.
