Russian billionaire reregisters one of Russia’s biggest retailers in Cyprus
Lenta, Russia’s third biggest retailer by profit, with a network of 249 hypermarkets in more than 130 Russian cities, has received permission from the Cypriot authorities to use Cyprus as its jurisdiction, and has changed its official name to Lenta PLC, the company announced.
“Today the Department of Registrar of Companies and Official Receiver (DRCOR) has issued the company a certificate of temporary registration in Cyprus. As a result of the company’s transition to another jurisdiction taking effect, its name has been changed to Lenta PLC, a public company with limited liability, registered, in accordance with the legislation of Cyprus, at the address: 6 Karaiskaki Street, City House, 3032 Limassol, Cyprus,” the company’s press service stated.
The company, which is 78% owned by SeverGroup, which in turn belongs to the Russian billionaire Alexey Mordashov’s (worth $20.5 billion according to Forbes), is registered in the British Virgin Islands. In order to be permanently registered in Cyprus, Lenta intends to obtain a certificate of termination of operations in the British Virgin Islands, after which it will reapply to the DRCOR.
The company’s GDR can still be traded on the London Stock Exchange and the Moscow Exchange, without any change to its ISIN. The change of jurisdiction will not affect the rights of GDR holders, the press service stressed.
In connection with the registration, the company has adopted a new charter, the corporate secretary has been changed to Crystalserve Secretarial Ltd, and the nominal cost of shares has changed from 0 to 0.001 €. The company has also changed its depository from Deutsche Bank Luxembourg S.A. to Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas.
In October 2019, the retailer’s shareholders decided to change the company’s jurisdiction from the British Virgin Islands to Cyprus, and also to change its legal status to a public limited liability company.
Lenta runs 249 hypermarkets in 88 Russian cities and 131 supermarkets in Moscow, St Petersburg, Siberia, and the Ural and central regions. In 2019, it opened 8 new hypermarkets and 3 supermarkets, but also closed 3 hypermarkets and 7 supermarkets.