Exit Completed: company sold its business/assets or its part of the business to a local partner and leaved the market or liquidated local entity(ies)
Exited Exit Completed
Unilever is a British multinational consumer goods company. Unilever products include food, condiments, ice cream, wellbeing vitamins, minerals and supplements, tea, coffee, breakfast cereal, cleaning agents, water and air purifiers, pet food, toothpaste, beauty products, and personal care.
Exit Completed: company sold its business/assets or its part of the business to a local partner and leaved the market or liquidated local entity(ies)
Exited Exit CompletedUnilever owns 8 large Russian enterprises, including a margarine factory in Moscow, a sauce factory, a tea-packing factory and a perfume and cosmetics factory in St. Petersburg, a food factory and an ice cream factory in Tula, as well as ice cream factories in Novosibirsk and Omsk. British firm producing Magnum and Cornetto is STILL selling ice creams in Russia despite their invasion of Ukraine. Unilever will let Russia employees be conscripted. "After looking at the situation in detail, it is clear that the containment actions we have taken minimise Unilever’s economic contribution to the Russian state." "However, I understand why there are calls for our company to leave the country and we continue to look at our options, within a context that has become more complex following recent regulatory developments in Russia." - Hein Schumacher. The rights to some of the Unilever brands in the Russian Federation, including Clean Line and Inmarko, were transferred to Unilever Rus LLC. Unilever Corporation has received approval from Russian authorities to sell its business in the country. The assets, which include the company's brands, are valued at ₽35–40 billion. Unilever has been operating in Russia since 1991. Unilever has received at least 200 million euros from Unilever Russia since early 2022, despite its solemn promise to not profit from the Russian branch after the invasion of Ukraine. A significant part of that money went through the Netherlands. Unilever has decided to ditch its Russian arm in a deal understood to be worth £300m and £334m, 50% less than the division’s value. However, the deal is subjected to a 50% discount according to Russian law on asset sales, while Russian media is reporting that it is still waiting to be confirmed as official, and is being looked over by the Kremlin’s subcommittee for approval.
The company promised to suspend all imports and exports of its products into and out of Russia, and to stop all media and advertising spendings. Unilever also promised not to invest any further capital into the country nor to get profit from its presence in Russia. Unilever "will continue to supply essential food and hygiene products made in Russia to people in the country". Unilever flags risk it may have to halt Russia operations. As we see in 2023 - the company didn't met it promises, as its local entity in Russia (Unilever Rus LLC or ООО "Юнилевер Русь", tax id 7705183476) generated almost the same volume of local revenue in 2022 (RUB 84.9bn) vs RUB 86bn in 2021 or just 2% less. At the same time, its net profit increased from RUB 4.9bn to RUB 9.2bn or +91%! Also, due to this significant volume of profit, it was able to increase the local capital to RUB 34.5bn in 2022 from RUB 25.3bn in 2021 or +37%. It means that in fact the company reinvested the profit which is equal to investment of the new capital in the country. Moreover, the company will be obliged to pay profit tax (in addition to VAT, taxes from salary and other taxes) and indirectly support Russia's war machine in such a way. Unilever Rus LLC also paid the equivalent of $331mn of taxes in 2021 (and minimum the same amount in 2022 based on their financials). The NACP added Unilever to the list of “International Sponsors of War”. Decreased revenue in 2023 vs 2022. Unilever sale is approved by the russian government. The buyer of the Russian business of the transnational holding Unilever, headquartered in London, was the Arnest Group. Unilever has closed a deal to sell its business in Russia and Belarus to Alexey Sagal's Arnest Group. The subject of the deal was the company's assets, including four production sites in Yekaterinburg, Omsk, St. Petersburg and Tula, according to a press release received by Kommersant. The amount of the deal was not disclosed. However, the Russian business of the international holding company leaving the country, taking into account the discount, was previously valued at 35-40 billion rubles (~€520mn). The British conglomerate Unilever, which produces household chemicals and food products, announced its exit from the Russian market. "Today (on Oct 10, 2024), Unilever completed the sale of its Russian subsidiary, Arnest Group, to a Russian manufacturer of perfumes, cosmetics and household goods," Schumacher noted. 09.10.2024: ARNEST MANAGEMENT LLC becomes the new founder of the organization. The entry about the founders UNILEVER DEUTSCHLAND GMBH LLC and RIZOFOOR B.V. PRIVATE JOINT-STOCK LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY has been removed from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities.