Russian Billionaire Buys 276 Real Hypermarkets

Sistema Finance S. A., a subsidiary of Russian AFK Sistema, will allocate up to EUR 263 million for financing the transaction.

German Metro AG announced the sale of its retail division Real to the Luxembourg-based investment fund SCP Group, linked to the family of Russian billionaire Vladimir Yevtushenkov. Under the terms of the deal, the fund will receive 276 operating hypermarkets of Real, as well as 80 retail properties, according to Malls.Ru. 

Sistema Finance S. A., a subsidiary of Russian AFK Sistema (controlled by Yevtushenkov), will allocate up to €263 million to finance the deal, Vedomosti reported. The deal is expected to be closed in the first half of 2020. Financial details of the agreement are not disclosed, but it's known that third-party investors are also involved. It is known that the Real Fund will manage the network together with the German company X+bricks. 

"The company has appointed an experienced manager to implement its concept of Real. Patrick Kaudevitz will become Chairman of the Board of Directors of SCP Retail Investments and will bring his long experience in retail to the development of individual concepts for real sites" - SCP official report notes. The agreement between SCP Group and Metro AG on the purchase of Real was reached in December 2019. 

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