Russian supermarket chain Pyatyorochka has offered to buy the Kopeika discount grocery chain, according to a report in the Vedomosti business daily cited by the PRIME-TASS news agency.
UralSib holds 50% in Kopeika, while the company’s management holds the remaining 50%. Oleg Vysotsky, chief executive director of Pyatyorochka said that his company was ready to buy the two stakes.
Analysts value Kopeika at U.S. $400 million – $500 million, according to Vedomosti. No details on how long the offer is valid for were disclosed, Vedomosti said.
The Kommersant business daily reported that Kopeika president Alexander Samonov had denied that Kopeika would be sold. “We receive similar proposals all the time, and not only from Pyatyorochka. But the proposals do not interest us at this moment in time, and neither the managers nor UralSib have considered them seriously,” Samonov said.
Pyatyorochka operates 440 stores in Russia. According to Oleg Vysotsky, this year the company expects its sales at $2 billion.
