Who owns the retail chains in Russia? Who owns chain stores in Russia.

Most of the shares of one of the largest retail retailers in the Russian Federation, Lenta Ltd, are owned by foreign investors. The success of Lenta's commercial activities depends on the management decisions of the elected Board of Directors chaired by John Oliver and the operational assessment of the company's activities in Russia.

According to official information, currently the main owner of Lenta is the American investment company TPG, and the main organization Lenta LTD is registered in the British Virgin Islands.

Information about the main shareholders of Lenta is posted on the holding's official website. The holding shares are distributed as follows:

Retailer management structure

In accordance with the internal regulations, Lenta has the following corporate governance bodies:

1. The Board of Directors, the main task of which is the selection and development of a long-term strategy for the development of the retail chain, as well as control over the current results of the holding's work. The chairman of the board is John Oliver. The board also includes 8 more people: Jan Dunning, Steve Johnson, M. Lynch-Bell, J. Lemens, Y. Solovieva, D. Shvets, M. Elling, S. Hellman.
2. Management Board: carries out the implementation of the strategy formed by the Board of Directors and monitors the financial activities of the company under the leadership of Jan Dünning.
3. To solve operational problems, the board of directors created special committees that allow distributing the main functions:

   Conducting external and internal audits.
   - Monitoring appointments of senior management. This committee searches for and selects directors and makes recommendations.
   - Development of a remuneration policy for the top management of the holding.
   - Control over the expenditure of funds: this committee is responsible for monitoring capital expenditures (if the planned spending is more than 2 million US dollars).

The distribution of activities performed by each management body of the organization is clearly regulated by the Charter of the company, as well as internal regulations.

People's grocery stores in Russia, located within walking distance, "Pyaterochka", "Kopeyka", "Narodny", etc. belong to ... foreign companies.

Perhaps this information will provide new insights into why prices are rising, why supermarkets are not supporting the Russian producer, why a chain of small retail grocery stores is being destroyed everywhere, and where the money is going.

Products and prices for them are more serious, more painful and more important for every person in the country than distant and incomprehensible politics, economics and finances.

Here is a list of countries where the largest grocery chains are registered, with hundreds of thousands of stores throughout Russia

1. "Auchan" (France),

2. "OK" (Luxembourg),

3. "Pyaterochka" (Netherlands),

4. "Crossroads" (Netherlands),

5. "Carousel" (Netherlands),

6. MetroCash&Carry (Germany),

7. "Tape" (British Virgin Islands),

8. "Globe" (Cyprus),

9. "Billa" (Austria),

10. "Selgros" (Germany),

11. "Leroy Merlin" (France),

12. "Magnet" (Cyprus offshore Lavreno Ltd.),

13. "Penny" (Netherlands),

14. "We" (Netherlands),

15. Mercado Supercenter (Netherlands),

16. "Basket" (Netherlands),

17. "Paterson" (Netherlands),

18. "People's" (Netherlands),

19. Simbirka (Netherlands),

20. "Provision" (Netherlands),

21. "Fair" (Netherlands),

22. "Troika" (Netherlands),

23. "Family" (Netherlands),

24. "Thrifty family" (Netherlands),

25. World of Products (Netherlands),

26. "A5" (Netherlands),

27. "Spar" (Netherlands),

28. "Universam" (Netherlands),

29. "Tamerlane" (Netherlands),

30. "Purchase" (Netherlands).

“A very large percentage of the market and a considerable segment of our wallet falls on essential goods that we must support every day.

This is personal hygiene products. This is detergents. This and other household chemicals that we use almost automatically. But you go to the store and what do you see? foreign brands. Endless high cost,

- reports Gleb Veshaev, director of the information and analytical center for social technologies "Krass".

“It turns out that foreign capital has penetrated with its tentacles into every cell of Russian business. And here, on the spot, chain hypermarkets take a protective position precisely in relation to Western manufacturers.

The chain closes, turning Russia into a tool for pumping money out of the Russian population and sending it to third countries.

Chain stores are the main striking force of Western business. It is they who, like huge vacuum cleaners, suck up cash flows and withdraw the currency abroad. While hypermarkets are openly working against Russia.

Yes, hypermarkets have destroyed the Russian retail network. Yes, they left a large part of the population without work and without the opportunity to support their families. Then at least give normal service in return.

But he is not. Lobbying the interests of Western brands, lowering the cost, playing with the prices of currencies - everything is aimed at supporting the foreign market on Russian territory and drowning Russian manufacturers. While hypermarkets function like huge factories for the export of profits from Russia.

“Despite all the chains' political statements that, they say, they keep their prices, the entire burden in fulfilling this statement fell on the producers. The networks themselves have not reduced their costs. They passed it on to the manufacturer.

It's the producers who keep the prices normal. And not only keep, but even reduce.

Networks, instead of the announced reduction or retention of prices, also raised prices for manufacturers.

If earlier the manufacturer returned 5 percent to the network, now it is 10 percent in the form of, so to speak, internal bonuses. And here we also need to add a variety of fees, marketing fees, etc. Even logistics, which was also reduced today, and it laid an additional burden on the shoulders of the manufacturer.”

We can’t really talk about any import substitution, Veshchaev believes, because the West does not intend to negotiate with Russia. And grocery store chains are “the striking force of Western business.” They suck money out of the population and take it abroad at a tremendous pace. It has become quite obvious that grocery chain stores are now part of the political system.

Lobbying the interests of Western brands, lowering the cost, playing with the prices of currencies - everything is aimed at supporting the foreign market on Russian territory and drowning Russian manufacturers.

But each of us, for his part, is able to choose the place where to buy and the goods. Even in Western chain stores, we can choose a domestic product or a product instead of an imported one and, thus, “vote with a ruble”.

▲ RUB 22.33 billion (2015, IFRS)

▲ RUB 10.28 billion (2015, IFRS)

▲ RUB 178.39 billion (2015, IFRS)

35.1 thousand (2013)

Story

The Lenta company was founded by Russian entrepreneur Oleg Zherebtsov on October 25, 1993 in St. Petersburg. The first Lenta store of the Cash & Carry format was opened in 1993 in St. Petersburg on Zamshina Street in 1996-1997, two more small stores were opened in St. Petersburg.

In 2009-2015, more than thirty hypermarkets were opened: five in Novokuznetsk, three more in Novosibirsk, three in Omsk, two each in Barnaul, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Ulyanovsk and Yaroslavl, in Ivanovo - three, in other cities - one by one. Lenta also appeared on leased space in existing shopping centers. A second distribution center was built in Novosibirsk.

Subsequently, the management of the company was carried out collectively. August Meyer's Svoboda fund tried to buy out the stake of its "rival", the Luna fund, in early 2011. As a result, in August 2011, it became known that an agreement had been reached that both funds would part with their shares, selling them to the American fund Texas Pacific Group, VTB Capital and the EBRD (as a result, TPG and VTB Capital will jointly own 65% Lenta, and the EBRD - 20%). The total deal is expected to be $1.1 billion.

IPO

At the end of February 2014, the company held an IPO. The placement volume of Lenta amounted to $952 million excluding the organizers' option and $1.095 billion - with its full exercise. The value of Lenta's business was estimated at $5.4 billion, market capitalization - at $4.3 billion. Lenta was valued at a discount of only 11% to the leader of Russian retail - Krasnodar "Magnit" and a premium to the securities "Okay » in 13%.

On March 5, 2014, Lenta began trading its global depository receipts (GDRs) through the international order book of the London Stock Exchange (LSE). On March 6, 2014, Lenta securities began trading on the Moscow Exchange (MOEX).

Owners and management

The parent company of the network - Lenta LLC - is 100% owned by Lenta Ltd., registered in the British Virgin Islands. As of April 2014, the chain's share distribution is as follows:

• TPG Capital - 35.55%,
• EBRD - 15.32%,
• Directors and management - 1.14%,
• Shares in free float - 47.99%.

The company's CEO is Jan Dunning and the chairman of the board of directors is John Oliver. Also on the board of directors are: Jan Dunning, Steve Johnson, Michael Lynch Bell, Jaho Lemmens, Lindsay Forbes, Anton Artemyev, Dmitry Shvets, Steven Peel, Martin Elling.

In April 2015, the shareholders of Lenta proportionally reduced their stakes in the retailer. TPG Group owns 35.55% of the shares, EBRD owns 15.3%, VTB Capital - 5.8%, minority shareholders 7.6%, the company's management owns 1.1%, 34.6% of Lenta's shares are in free float.

Almost immediately after the SPO, the company announced the payment of dividends to its shareholders represented by Lenta Ltd in the amount of 6 billion rubles. The facts show that shareholders are gradually getting rid of Lenta. The reasons for the Western owners of the company are rather political, besides there is a threat of nationalization.

The retailer business also raises questions. It is known that the company's debt burden exceeds the industry average. Lenta's large loans totaled RUB 26.1 billion in 2014, and in March 2015 the company approached VTB Bank for a RUB 15 billion loan, the largest borrowing in the company's history.

Lenta forecasts slower revenue growth in 2015 compared to last year. The company plans to open 20-25 hypermarkets and 10-15 supermarkets, which will cost Lenta 25 billion rubles.

Activity

As of the end of October 2016, the distribution network includes 125 hypermarkets and 27 supermarkets in 62 Russian cities. Twenty-two of the chain's hypermarkets are located in St. Petersburg; seven in Novosibirsk, six in Omsk; five in Novokuznetsk; four - in Volgograd, Tyumen, Chelyabinsk; three each in Nizhny Novgorod, Krasnoyarsk, Kemerovo, Barnaul, Ivanovo; two each in Syktyvkar, Veliky Novgorod, Krasnodar, Voronezh, Ulyanovsk, Novorossiysk, Yaroslavl, Ryazan, Togliatti, Taganrog, Saratov, Cherepovets, Belgorod, Penza and Rostov-on-Don, Nizhny Tagil; one shopping complex was located in a number of large cities in Russia, including Nizhnekamsk, Novocherkassk, Perm, Tomsk, Tula, Kaluga, Ufa, Murmansk, Irkutsk and others.

In 2013, the company began to open new format stores - supermarkets. 22 supermarkets were opened in Moscow, the Moscow region, as well as a supermarket in Maloyaroslavets. In the same year, the first hypermarket was opened in the Moscow region - in Balashikha.

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Notes

1. (February 15, 2016). Retrieved 18 August 2016.
2. (Russian). tape.com. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
3. New shareholder of Lenta. Vedomosti, No. 89 (1863), May 18, 2007
4. (Russian). retail-tech.ru (March 1, 2009). Retrieved November 18, 2010.
5. (Russian). tape.com. Retrieved September 30, 2013.
6. Ekaterina Gerashchenko.. Gazeta.ru (???). Retrieved August 10, 2011. .
7. (Russian). lenta.ru (September 14, 2010). Retrieved September 30, 2013.
8. . vedomosti.ru.
9. . rbc.ru.
10. . rbc.ru.
11. . lentainvestor.com.
12. . lentainvestor.com.
13. .
14. .
15. .
16. (Russian). tape.com. Retrieved September 30, 2013.

Links

An excerpt characterizing Lenta (a chain of stores)

Many historians say that the battle of Borodino was not won by the French because Napoleon had a cold, that if he had not had a cold, then his orders before and during the battle would have been even more brilliant, and Russia would have perished, et la face du monde eut ete changee. [and the face of the world would have changed.] For historians who admit that Russia was formed at the behest of one man - Peter the Great, and France from a republic developed into an empire, and French troops went to Russia at the behest of one man - Napoleon, such an argument that Russia remained powerful because Napoleon had a bad cold on the 26th, such reasoning for such historians is inevitably consistent.
If it depended on the will of Napoleon to give or not to give the Battle of Borodino, and it depended on his will to make such or another order, then it is obvious that a runny nose, which had an influence on the manifestation of his will, could be the reason for the salvation of Russia and that therefore the valet who forgot to give Napoleon On the 24th, waterproof boots, was the savior of Russia. On this path of thought, this conclusion is undoubted, just as undoubted as the conclusion that Voltaire, jokingly (without knowing why himself), said that the St. Bartholomew night came from an upset stomach of Charles IX. But for people who do not allow Russia to be formed at the behest of one person - Peter I, and for the French empire to take shape and the war with Russia to begin at the behest of one person - Napoleon, this reasoning not only seems to be wrong, unreasonable, but also contrary to the whole being. human. To the question of what constitutes the cause of historical events, another answer appears, which consists in the fact that the course of world events is predetermined from above, depends on the coincidence of all the wills of the people participating in these events, and that the influence of the Napoleons on the course of these events is only external and fictitious.
Strange as it may seem at first glance, the assumption that the Bartholomew night, the order for which was given by Charles IX, did not happen by his will, but that it only seemed to him that he ordered it to be done, and that the Borodino massacre of eighty thousand people did not happen by the will of Napoleon (despite the fact that he gave orders about the beginning and course of the battle), and that it seemed to him only that he ordered it - strange as this assumption seems, but human dignity, telling me that each of us, if not more, then no less a man than the great Napoleon orders to allow this solution of the problem, and historical research abundantly confirms this assumption.
In the Battle of Borodino, Napoleon neither shot nor killed anyone. All this was done by the soldiers. So he didn't kill people.
The soldiers of the French army went to kill Russian soldiers in the Battle of Borodino, not as a result of Napoleon's orders, but of their own free will. The whole army: the French, Italians, Germans, Poles - hungry, ragged and exhausted by the campaign - in view of the army blocking Moscow from them, felt that le vin est tire et qu "il faut le boire. [the wine is uncorked and you need to drink it .] If Napoleon now forbade them to fight the Russians, they would have killed him and would have gone to fight the Russians, because it was necessary for them.
When they listened to the order of Napoleon, who presented them with consolation for their injuries and death, the words of posterity that they were in the battle near Moscow, they shouted "Vive l" Empereur! just as they shouted "Vive l" Empereur! at the sight of a picture of a boy piercing the globe with a bilbock stick; just as they would shout "Vive l" Empereur! with any nonsense that they would have been told. There was nothing left for them to do but shout "Vive l" Empereur! and go fight to find food and rest for the winners in Moscow. Therefore, it was not because of Napoleon's orders that they killed their own kind.
And it was not Napoleon who controlled the course of the battle, because nothing from his disposition was executed and during the battle he did not know about what was happening ahead of him. Therefore, the way in which these people killed each other did not happen at the will of Napoleon, but proceeded independently of him, at the will of hundreds of thousands of people who participated in the common cause. It seemed to Napoleon only that the whole thing was happening according to his will. And therefore the question of whether or not Napoleon had a runny nose is of no greater interest to history than the question of the runny nose of the last Furshtat soldier.
Moreover, on August 26, Napoleon's runny nose did not matter, since the testimony of writers that, due to Napoleon's runny nose, his disposition and orders during the battle were not as good as before, are completely unfair.
The disposition written out here was not in the least worse, and even better, than all previous dispositions by which battles were won. The imaginary orders during the battle were also no worse than before, but exactly the same as always. But these dispositions and orders seem only worse than the previous ones, because the battle of Borodino was the first that Napoleon did not win. All the most beautiful and profound dispositions and orders seem very bad, and every learned military man criticizes them with a significant air when the battle is not won over them, and the very bad dispositions and orders seem very good, and serious people in whole volumes prove the merits of bad orders, when the battle is won over them.
The disposition drawn up by Weyrother at the Battle of Austerlitz was a model of perfection in writings of this kind, but it was nevertheless condemned, condemned for its perfection, for being too detailed.
Napoleon in the battle of Borodino performed his job as a representative of power just as well, and even better, than in other battles. He did nothing detrimental to the course of the battle; he leaned towards more prudent opinions; he did not confuse, did not contradict himself, did not get frightened and did not run away from the battlefield, but with his great tact and experience of the war, he calmly and dignifiedly played his role of seeming boss.

Returning from his second preoccupied trip down the line, Napoleon said:
The chess is set, the game will start tomorrow.
Ordering himself a punch and calling Bosse, he began a conversation with him about Paris, about some changes that he intended to make in the maison de l "imperatrice [in the court staff of the empress], surprising the prefect with his memory of all the small details of court relations.
He was interested in trifles, joked about Bosse's love of travel and casually chatted like a famous, confident and knowledgeable cameraman does, while he rolls up his sleeves and puts on an apron, and the patient is tied to a bunk: “It's all in my hands and in the head, clear and definite. When I need to get down to business, I will do it like no other, and now I can joke, and the more I joke and calm, the more you should be sure, calm and surprised at my genius.
Having finished his second glass of punch, Napoleon went to rest before the serious business, which, as it seemed to him, was coming to him the next day.
He was so interested in this task ahead of him that he could not sleep and, despite the runny nose that had worsened from the evening dampness, at three o'clock in the morning, blowing his nose loudly, he went out into the large compartment of the tent. He asked if the Russians had left? He was told that the enemy fires were still in the same places. He nodded his head approvingly.
The duty adjutant entered the tent.
- Eh bien, Rapp, croyez vous, que nous ferons do bonnes affaires aujourd "hui? [Well, Rapp, what do you think: will our affairs be good today?] - he turned to him.
- Sans aucun doute, Sire, [Without any doubt, sovereign,] - answered Rapp.
Napoleon looked at him.
- Vous rappelez vous, Sire, ce que vous m "avez fait l" honneur de dire a Smolensk, - said Rapp, - le vin est tire, il faut le boire. [Do you remember, sir, those words that you deigned to say to me in Smolensk, the wine is uncorked, you must drink it.]
Napoleon frowned and sat silently for a long time, his head resting on his hand.
“Cette pauvre armee,” he said suddenly, “elle a bien diminue depuis Smolensk.” La fortune est une franche courtisane, Rapp; je le disais toujours, et je commence a l "eprouver. Mais la garde, Rapp, la garde est intacte? [Poor army! It has greatly decreased from Smolensk. Fortune is a real whore, Rapp. I have always said this and am beginning to experience it. But the guard, Rapp, are the guards intact?] he said inquiringly.
- Oui, Sire, [Yes, sir.] - answered Rapp.
Napoleon took a lozenge, put it in his mouth and looked at his watch. He did not want to sleep, it was still far from morning; and in order to kill time, it was no longer possible to issue any orders, because everything had been made and was now being carried out.
– A t on distribue les biscuits et le riz aux regiments de la garde? [Have they distributed crackers and rice to the guardsmen?] Napoleon asked sternly.
– Oui, Sire. [Yes, sir.]
Mais le riz? [But rice?]
Rapp replied that he had conveyed the sovereign's orders about rice, but Napoleon shook his head in displeasure, as if he did not believe that his order would be carried out. The servant entered with punch. Napoleon ordered another glass to be served to Rapp and silently sipped from his own.
“I have no taste or smell,” he said, sniffing the glass. - This cold has bothered me. They talk about medicine. What kind of medicine when they can not cure the common cold? Corvisart gave me these lozenges, but they do nothing. What can they treat? Cannot be treated. Notre corps est une machine a vivre. Il est organise pour cela, c "est sa nature; laissez y la vie a son aise, qu" elle s "y defende elle meme: elle fera plus que si vous la paralysiez en l" encombrant de remedes. notre corps est comme une montre parfaite qui doit aller un certain temps; l "horloger n" a pas la faculte de l "ouvrir, il ne peut la manier qu" a tatons et les yeux bandes. Notre corps est une machine a vivre, voila tout. [Our body is a machine for life. It is designed for this. Leave life alone in him, let her defend herself, she will do more alone than when you interfere with her with medicines. Our body is like a clock that must run a certain time; the watchmaker cannot open them and only by groping and blindfolded can he operate them. Our body is a machine for life. That's all.] - And as if embarking on the path of definitions, definitions that Napoleon loved, he suddenly made a new definition. “Do you know, Rapp, what the art of war is?” - he asked. - The art of being stronger than the enemy at a certain moment. Voila tout. [That's all.]

Screams, broken glass doors, guards getting into a fight… This is not a showdown of the mid-1990s - it takes place in St. Petersburg in September 2010. Two solid foreign companies, the main owners of the Lenta hypermarket chain, disagreed on corporate procedures, and now one group is storming the office to kick out competitors. How did they come to such a life?

To begin with - about the alignment of forces. Foreigner August Meyer (41% of the shares), his partner Dmitry Kostygin (1% of the shares) and now the former general director of the network Sergey Yushchenko play on defense. On the attack is Luna Holdings, which owns a 30.7% stake in Lenta. It, in turn, belongs to the large American fund TPG and VTB Capital, a subsidiary of VTB. Luna enjoys the support of a number of minority shareholders, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

There is something to fight for. Lenta is one of the largest retail chains in the country, it has 37 hypermarkets in 18 cities, which generated 55 billion rubles in revenue last year. Before the crisis, Lenta's valuations were in excess of $2 billion, and investors were lining up to get a stake in the company.

On that September day, the victory went to Luna Holdings - its private security company managed to seize the office of Lenta, expel Yushchenko from there and put his man, the Dutchman Jan Dunning, who has INSEAD behind him, 10 years of work in the European network of Aldi discounters and five years of experience in Russia. After that fight, the war turned into a "cold" phase: the parties filed numerous lawsuits against each other in Russia, London and the British Virgin Islands, where Lenta Ltd., the parent company of the holding, is registered. The confrontation between the two groups of shareholders continues.

Successful investment

Lenta was founded by St. Petersburg entrepreneur Oleg Zherebtsov, who has been trading since 1993. At first, he opened small-scale wholesale warehouses that were usual for that time, by the end of the 1990s he had acquired a supermarket, and in 2001 he decided to build a really large store, the first of its kind in the northern capital, but he did not have enough money for the project. A familiar entrepreneur, Dmitry Kostygin, then brought Zherebtsov together with August Meyer, who had recently arrived in Russia from the USA, who readily acquired 49% of the company.

A new investor bought a stake in a very small business - analysts estimated Lenta at only $20-30 million, but the money he brought was enough to complete the construction of the hypermarket and purchase land for opening new outlets. Lenta began to build a hypermarket a year, and sometimes more. Moreover, Meyer was a convenient partner - the presence of a foreign shareholder helped to negotiate with Western banks and counterparties, and he did not interfere in operational management. How did he get to Russia at all? This is an interesting story that sheds some light on the cause of later corporate conflicts.

Meyer was born in Illinois and grew up in a very wealthy family. His father, August Meyer, Sr., heir to Midwest Television and financial company First Busey, even made the Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans in 1991. The future shareholder of Lenta first studied history, then passed the exam for a lawyer and worked for 10 years in the prosecutor's office in San Diego. In America, Meyer never got his own business or family. He traveled widely and read the books of his favorite author, Ayn Rand, a Russian immigrant who sang of free enterprise. It is not surprising that one day he decided to call on Rand's homeland - in St. Petersburg.

Since then, he has remained here. He married a Russian woman, had children, and even renounced American citizenship. Why? “America is sinking like the Titanic, but Russia has a future,” Meyer says in an interview with Forbes. He recalls how in St. Petersburg, right in the middle of the street, a stray dog ​​tore his shirt, and a girl who was watching the scene from a street kiosk came out to him with a needle in her hands and helped to sew up his clothes. “In America, this is hardly possible,” Meyer sums up. This is a lovely drawing. But there is a more practical explanation: the US taxes are too high for those who do business abroad. Meyer says that he considers himself “practically Russian”, but he never learned the language, and did not accept Russian citizenship - the businessman has a passport from Saint Kitts and Nevis, a small island state that, for a small amount, without delay, issues citizenship to everyone.

In Russia, Meyer initially engaged in buying and leasing communal apartments and even founded a small hotel chain called Rand House - in honor of the author of the bestseller Atlas Shrugged. Financial savings, however, allowed him to do something more ambitious. It was then that Kostygin arrived in time.

Kostygin cannot be denied entrepreneurial acumen. While still a schoolboy, he went to Moscow for jeans and sneakers, which he then resold in Leningrad. While studying at the Military Medical Academy in the early 1990s, he helped foreigners rent hotel rooms, sold them military uniforms, boots, hats with earflaps, and even “kopeck pieces” for telephone booths ($1 each). Then, as he himself says, "he invested in one thing, then another."

The decision to translate and publish Ayn Rand's book can be considered his most successful project. Although the novel did not bring money to Kostygin, thanks to him he met the millionaire Meyer. He was just looking for an opportunity to perpetuate the memory of a native of St. Petersburg by opening something like a house-museum, and at the American Ayn Rand Institute he was given the contacts of Kostygin, a local admirer. They immediately became friends, despite the difference in age. Having brought the American to Zherebtsov and organized the deal, Kostygin received, according to Forbes, a 5% stake in the network as a reward for services, which he later partially sold, having gained about $ 20 million.

Meyer likes to say that he understands little about business and numbers. He invested money and for almost six years quietly watched his share rise in price, turning from tens of millions of dollars into hundreds.

First fight

For the time being, the founder of Lenta, Zherebtsov, did an excellent job of managing. “He is a born retailer,” says one of the market participants. - He enters the store and immediately sees what needs to be done to increase sales: how the flow of visitors goes, where to change the lighting, where to put apples on the other side. But he's not very good at corporate governance." Zherebtsov himself, in an interview with Oleg Tinkov (for a program on the Russia.ru website), admitted: "We did not think that we would create and sell companies - we were going to have money from operating funds."

In 2006, Zherebtsov walked at Meyer's wedding, and a few months later the partners quarreled. Bored with routine business processes, Zherebtsov launched his personal project from scratch - the Norma chain of small stores, which, however, did not contradict the charter of Lenta. Meyer didn't like it. In December of the same year, instead of Zherebtsov, the retail chain was headed by the financial director of Lenta Sergey Yushchenko.

At that time, the company planned to issue additional shares and sell 15% on the stock exchange, but several large investment funds said at once that they were ready to buy a stake in a promising network without an IPO. Meyer strongly supported the idea of ​​selling the package to Western funds, while Zherebtsov was against it and offered to buy the shares himself. "He was afraid that his share would be diluted and he would lose control of the board of directors," Kostygin said. Now Meyer and Kostygin have already refused: they believed that Zherebtsov simply did not have the funds necessary to buy out the package. In May 2007, the EBRD acquired an 11% stake for $125 million.

And in January 2008, the conflict flared up again. Immediately after the New Year holidays, Zherebtsov, who was increasingly devoting time to his favorite hobby - yachting - decided to intervene in the management of the network: he notified Sergei Yushchenko and several other Meyer associates by e-mail that they were fired. Urgently passed two boards of directors - in different compositions; on one, Zherebtsov appointed his friend Vladimir Senkin as head of the company, on the other, Meyer retained the position for Yushchenko. Litigation began.

By April, however, the conflict came to naught - the parties agreed to elect a compromise figure, Alexander Bobrov, development director in charge of the construction of new stores. The Russian economy was then on the rise, the shares of retail chains were growing in price - it was foolish to argue when the chance presented itself to profitably sell the business. Meyer and Zherebtsov agreed to jointly cede their shares to one of the potential investors - the American network Wal-Mart, the French Carrefour, the Finnish Kesko and the Croatian Agrokor were eyeing Lenta. Buyers offered an incredible price for Lenta - valuations of $2 billion and more were discussed.

“It took us literally a couple of months to close the deal,” says Kostygin, who could have earned over $20 million for his 1% stake. In the fall of 2008, a crisis broke out, and negotiations stopped. Of all the co-owners of Lenta, Zherebtsov was in the worst position. The crisis caught the businessman in the midst of a round-the-world regatta, which was unsuccessful for his Kasatka yacht: at three stages, the Zherebtsov team was the last to arrive, and it was generally taken in tow to the port of St. Petersburg. The shares of the founder of Lenta were pledged in banks to finance the personal project Norma. The founder of Lenta faced a tough choice - either to urgently find a buyer for the shares, or they would go to the banks.

New partners

In October 2009, Zherebtsov sold 35% of Lenta to a consortium of investment funds TPG and VTB Capital for only $110 million, after paying all the debts he had only a quarter of this money left. The deal was difficult, negotiations dragged on for several months - Zherebtsov and Meyer at that time did not talk to each other at all, and investors had to communicate with each separately. (Zherebtsov declined to be interviewed by Forbes for this article. “I don’t do much business, I travel more, I climb mountains,” said the Lenta founder, who has managed to travel around the world on a yacht in the past three years and open 17 Norma stores. )

It would seem that Meyer got what he wanted: the American investment fund became a major shareholder of Lenta. However, in April 2010, relations between the new partners began to heat up. According to the terms of the October deal, Meyer bought a small part of Zherebtsov's stake from TPG, but he did not receive this share on time. In May, TPG and VTB Capital unexpectedly blocked Lenta from receiving a €200 million loan.

“I think they deliberately interfere with the work of Lenta,” Meyer says indignantly. - For what? Ask them." According to Meyer, who now spends most of his time in the Virgin Islands, where the courts are going on, the new shareholders want full control of Lenta, although the agreement with them seems to say about joint management. “I demand only the fulfillment of agreements, and I will not stop, I will go and go forward like a Terminator,” Meyer raises his voice.

According to the mentioned shareholder agreement between Meyer and TPG, Meyer had the right to return Sergey Yushchenko as CEO, but only with the approval of the company's board of directors and only until August 31. At the end of May, the council took place, but the representatives of the new owners left it ahead of schedule and did not sign the decision, which did not prevent Meyer and Kostygin from declaring the council valid and, on this basis, expelling Jan Dunning from the Lenta office. Their triumph was short-lived - in September, the events described at the beginning of the article played out. Dunning was reinstalled in the company's office and took over operational control (his contract has now expired).

Meyer and Kostygin now say that they are the victims of an "oligarchic fund." TPG Capital truly manages a whopping $47 billion in capital. TPG is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, and the company's aggressive style has repeatedly brought to mind the American saying "Don't mess with the Texans." And although Time magazine called TPG founder David Bonderman and his partners “shameless predators,” it’s hard to deny them success - the restructuring of troubled companies that are not very interesting to other investors brings in income seven or even ten times more than the invested funds.

However, the last thing any investment fund is interested in is a shareholder conflict. The task of investors is to increase the capitalization of the acquired company as quickly as possible. That is why TPG, in conflict with Meyer, is supported by the majority of shareholders, including the EBRD. Why does the strategy for capitalization growth not suit August Meyer?

Human factor

For many years, Meyer sat silently on the boards of directors at Lenta. “He was even less active than a shareholder should be,” recalls one of the Lenta employees. - But in 2007, everything changed dramatically, he suddenly became intolerant, refused to compromise. He began to do some crazy things, arranged a war with Zherebtsov, although there was no need for this.

First, the war with Zherebtsov, whom Meyer suspected of wasting Lenta's resources on a personal project, and now with TPG. VTB Capital and TPG say they are ready, together with Meyer, to look for compromise solutions, for example, the candidacy of a third director - one that would suit everyone. However, Meyer does not make contact. "I can't trust them anymore," he explains.

“It seems to me that for August everything is either black or white. If you are his friend, you are right in everything, and if you disagree with him in something, you are immediately a crook and a scoundrel for him, ”says Vladimir Senkin, who was the general director of Lenta for some time. That quality may have helped when Meyer was at the U.S. Attorney's Office (he recently posted on Facebook that he misses the job), but business needs flexibility.

And Meyer, it seems, is always adamant. One of the minority shareholders of Lenta recalls how Meyer, having lost his temper, jumped out of the restaurant, in fact, even before the start of negotiations, because the interlocutor, not immediately agreeing with his demands, offered to discuss them. In addition, Meyer too often relies on the opinion of his friend Kostygin. “He is like Rasputin under the emperor,” says one of the participants in the conflict. - Meyer constantly says: Dima knows better. TPG and VTB Capital had claims against Kostygin and Lenta director Yushchenko. “We were dismayed when Kostygin secretly booked himself a $1 million a year salary as a part-time consultant,” said Dmitry Shvets, TPG Russia COO. Perhaps, here lies the true causes of the conflict of shareholders.

Due to the fact that the board of directors was paralyzed for more than six months, the chain opened only one store in 2010, for the first time on rented space. Nevertheless, from January to October 2010, Lenta's sales grew by 22%, EBITDA - by 44%, and the debt burden was reduced by 40%. The business is developing, the value of the company is growing.

Is it worth paying attention to personal likes and dislikes when it comes to billions again? If Meyer had delved into financial figures, his answer would have been obvious.

The former co-owners of the Lenta hypermarket chain, August Meyer and Dmitry Kostygin, are again investing in the retail business: as Kommersant learned, in four years they plan to open 30 small-scale wholesale complexes under the Enel brand, which will become analogues of American stores Costco and Sam's Club. At the first stage, the businessmen will invest in the project up to $250 million proceeds from the sale of Lenta.

In the presentation of the project available to Kommersant, it is said that the former co-owners of Lenta Dmitry Kostygin and August Meyer plan to create a network of 30 "wholesale clubs" by 2016, similar in format to the American stores Costco and Sam's Club. These networks attract regular shoppers to buy in bulk at discount prices. Such a model has not been implemented in its pure form by any retailer in Russia, reminds the president of Dixy, Ilya Yakubson.

The network's working name is Enel, which is an abbreviation for Novaya Lenta, Mr. Kostygin specified. The operating company at the start will be Orion Trading House LLC, a former subsidiary of Lyubimy Kray CJSC, a confectionery manufacturer co-owned by Dmitry Kostygin. Partners own 50% of the project.

Enel should occupy an area of ​​12-14 thousand sq.m. These are warehouse-type complexes with shelving and a retail area, with a minimum number of staff, follows from the presentation. Stores will be focused on two categories of consumers - individual buyers and businesses. At the same time, according to the pricing policy, stores should become a “hard discounter”.

It is planned to develop the network in St. Petersburg and Moscow. The first store may open at the end of 2013, most likely in St. Petersburg. Land plots of 3-5 hectares are now being sought in this city: on the main highways, no more than 1-2 km from the Ring Road (KAD). “The economic feasibility of this trading format is possible only under certain conditions. First of all, the locations of shopping malls,” the presentation says.

The project has already been presented to the governor of St. Petersburg, Georgy Poltavchenko, says Mr. Kostygin. He hopes to cooperate with the city authorities. Mr. Poltavchenko's press secretary Andrey Kibitov declined to comment yesterday.

At the first stage, the partners want to invest $200-250 million in the project, Dmitry Kostygin specified.

August Meyer and Dmitry Kostygin withdrew from the equity capital of Lenta (42 hypermarkets) in August 2011. For two, the investors owned about 42% of the network, which they sold to investment funds TPG Capital, the EBRD and VTB Capital for $1 billion. At the end of 2010, Lenta was the sixth grocery retailer in Russia in terms of revenue, control over the network is now owned by TPG.

Lenta is not a hard discounter, the network is focused primarily on retail customers, so Enel will not compete with it, Dmitry Kostygin believes. “We are creating an alternative to the outdated trading format - wholesale markets,” the businessman explains. In addition, TPG, EBRD and VTB Capital did not restrict him and August Meyer from future investments in retail. Timofey Demchenko, head of direct investment and special projects at VTB Capital, yesterday did not want to comment on the new project of the former co-owners of Lenta. A TPG spokesperson was not available for comment.

St. Petersburg is the most saturated city in Russia with hypermarkets and network trade in general, recalls the general director of the St. Petersburg Colliers International Nikolai Kazansky. Infoline estimates that approximately 70% of the city's retail turnover comes from chain stores, with hypermarkets controlling half of that share. According to estimates given in the presentation of Enel, X5 Retail Group (Pyaterochka, Perekrestok, Karusel), the O'Key and Lenta hypermarket chains occupy 49% of the retail food market of St. Petersburg for three, which, according to Petrostat in 2011, amounted to about $9.7 billion. For example, it can be very low prices,” Mr. Kazansky believes. In Moscow, competition is not so high: the entire food retail market is estimated at about $60 billion, the three largest players - X5, Auchan, Metro Cash - have a share of 14.5%, Alexey Krivoshapko, director of Prosperity Capital Management, previously estimated. - kommersant.ru News added
10.02.2012 06:43