Unilever has completed the sale of its Russian business following a major u-turn for the consumer goods giant.
The FTSE 100 company said the sale included all its business and four factories in Russia. Its business in Belarus was also included in the sale. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“Unilever has today completed the sale of its Russian subsidiary to Arnest Group, a Russian manufacturer of perfume, cosmetics, and household products,” said Hein Schumacher, Unilever CEO. “The completion of the sale ends Unilever Russia’s presence in the country.”
Arnest also acquired Heineken’s assets in Russia for €1 in August 2023.
Unilever had faced criticism for remaining in Russia since the country’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The Ukrainian government called it an “international sponsor of war” for indirectly contributing to the war.
When the deal was first reported last month, Russian media group RBC said the deal valued Unilever’s assets at around 35bn-40bn roubles ($390-$440m). This reflects a mandatory 50% discount on any exit deals involving companies from “unfriendly” countries that have imposed sanctions on Russia.
In Unilever’s H1 report, published in July this year, as of 30 June, the Russian business held net assets of around €600m ($663m), including four factories.
Unilever had previously resisted calls to exit Russia as most global fmcg companies have now done. “The containment actions we put in place at the beginning of the war minimise our economic contribution to the Russian state,” it said in February.
In July, Schumacher said Unilever had “substantially” localised its operations in Russia and its main objective was to minimise economic contributions to the Russian state.
Nelson Peltz, Unilever’s activist investor, told the FT earlier this year that he had pressed the consumer goods group, which had previously explored options for a sale, not to leave Russia.
“If we pull out of Russia, they will take our brands for themselves. I don’t think that’s a good trade,” he said at the time. “Why the hell should we?”
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