Lenta intends to acquire OK hypermarkets

The Lenta retail chain, part of Alexey Mordashov's Severgroup, intends to buy OK hypermarkets. This was told to Izvestia by three sources close to the parties to the negotiations. The deal is at the stage of a non-binding offer (NBO), which involves the negotiation of terms between the seller and the buyer, said one of the interlocutors.

Debt time: corporations do not pay suppliers from SMEs for 6-9 months.

Who delays payments more often and how they are punished for it

Currently, the deal is possible only after receiving the approval of the Board of Directors for the sale of the Russian hypermarket business "OK" to the company's management, a source in the retail chain told Izvestia. According to him, the OK Group expects to complete the business restructuring by the end of 2025.

The value of the transaction may amount to 40-55 billion rubles, experts interviewed by Izvestia estimate. In their opinion, this will allow Lenta to increase its turnover by about 140-150 billion rubles and expand its share in the grocery retail market.

"This is a strategic step to consolidate large trade formats. Lenta will remain the only real contender for the asset, as international networks cannot participate in the deal," said Mikhail Burmistrov, CEO of Infoline Analytics.

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:

Purchase control: Lenta intends to purchase OK hypermarkets