Bookstore "Taste" has been taken over by Magnit.
Let's dive into the tea It seems Magnit has sealed a deal to acquire 171 Azbuka Vkusa stores, including supermarkets, minimarkets, and hypermarkets, primarily in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The transaction also includes five culinary, bakery, and confectionery production facilities, three distribution centers, and logistics infrastructure spanning 47,000 sq.m in these cities.
Magnit plans to keep the Azbuka Vkusa brand and key management team, with their folks stepping in for strategic management. The financial details of the deal remain under wraps, but industry experts speculate it to be between 35-40 billion rubles, with a potential revenue of 100 billion rubles by 2024, according to INFOLine-Analytics. Gazprombank's executive director Marat Ibragimov agrees, valuing the network at 3.5x EV/EBITDA, which translates to 35 billion rubles.
The sale of Azbuka Vkusa has been in the limelight for years, with interested parties like Yandex and Severgroup in the mix. In 2021, Yandex discussed a buyout for synergy with Yandex.Lavka, while Severgroup showed interest back in 2019 and February 2022. Eventually, Magnit's offer proved more attractive, according to reports from Vedomosti.
The CEO of Azbuka Vkusa, Denis Sologub, denied rumors of talks with Yandex in late 2021, attributing them to misconstrued partnerships on express delivery. Sologub also acknowledged that the company holds deep personal significance for some owners, and selling the business isn't always the priority.
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- The acquisition of 171 Azbuka Vkusa stores by Magnit involves distribution centers and logistics infrastructure significant for the industry.
- The financial details of the Azbuka Vkusa sale remain undisclosed, but some experts believe it could generate up to 100 billion rubles in revenue by 2024.
- Despite interest from Yandex and Severgroup, Magnit's offer proved more appealing for the Azbuka Vkusa company, as reported by Vedomosti.
- The CEO of Azbuka Vkusa, Denis Sologub, has denied talks with Yandex and attributed rumors to misunderstandings about partnerships on express delivery.
