The exit of foreign companies from Russia has slowed down

In 2023, the number and volume of transactions involving the exit of foreigners from Russian assets decreased. The AK&M agency came to this conclusion after studying the merged and absorbed market, writes RBC.

So, last year, 97 such transactions were recorded for a total sum of more than 11 billion dollars, and in 2022 – 109 transactions for a sum of 16 billion 300 million dollars, the agency estimates. Thus, in total, in two years, the volume of transactions of foreigners leaving Russia is estimated at almost 27 and a half billion dollars.

Moreover, if considered in currency terms, the value of transactions on the exit of foreigners from Russian assets decreased in an hour by more than 30%, while in quantitative terms – only by 11%.

Thus, a conditional “average” asset cost the buyer 150 million dollars in the first year of the war, and 115 million in the second.

According to the authors of the report, the reasons for such dynamics are related to the tightening of legislation after the start of a full-scale war between Russia and Ukraine and the introduction of sanctions.

In particular, in 2022, a decree was passed prohibiting transactions with shares of foreigners in strategically important enterprises, primarily TEK. It is possible to carry out such transactions only with the permission of the president.

In 2023, a decree was signed on the temporary external management of some assets with foreign participation, and a decision was also made on a mandatory discount of 50% when selling Russian assets of foreigners and an additional contribution to the budget in the amount of 15%.

The decree, which allowed to temporarily control the assets of companies or individuals from unfriendly states, actually led to their nationalization, according to the AK&M report. In particular, the generating companies “Fortum” and “Unipro”, owned by the Finnish Fortum and the German Uniper, came under the temporary control of Rosymuschestvo. In 2023, 100% of the assets of the “Baltika” brewing company, 98% of which belonged to Carlsberg, and 100% of the Russian business of Danone were handed over to Rosymuschestva.

The experts polled by RBC confirm the decrease in transactions with foreign companies leaving the Russian market, but justify it not only by tightening regulation, but also by increasing the key rate of the Central Bank, increasing the terms of consideration of buyout applications, as well as the fact that the main exit of foreigners occurred in 2022 .

According to experts, buyers use the constant tightening of legislation in order to achieve more favorable conditions, explaining this by the fact that if the deal is not concluded now, it will later become even more unfavorable for sellers. At the same time, the motivation of the overwhelming majority of investors who left the market was primarily due to political factors, not financial, experts note and predict a further reduction in the volume of transactions to buy assets from foreigners in 2024. Those who wanted to leave the Russian market have already done so, while others have no serious motivation, say experts interviewed by RBC.

• In April 2023, Vladimir Putin signed a decree that actually allows for the nationalization of the assets of foreign companies in Russia. According to statements in the Kremlin, the document was developed as a response to the seizure of Russian assets abroad under sanctions.