Unilever divests Russian, Belarus operations to Arnest Group 

RUSSIA – Unilever, the global consumer goods giant, has confirmed the sale of its Russian subsidiary and its associated operations in Belarus to Arnest Group, a local manufacturer of perfume, cosmetics, and household products.  

While the financial terms of the deal were not officially disclosed, Reuters cited an FT report that said the transaction was valued at US$568.41 million. 

The sale includes all of Unilever’s business operations in Russia, comprising four manufacturing facilities, as well as its presence in Belarus.  

Hein Schumacher, CEO of Unilever, stated, “The completion of the sale ends Unilever Russia’s presence in the country.”  

Schumacher also explained the complexity of the divestiture, which involved tasks such as migrating IT platforms and supply chains, as well as rebranding products into Cyrillic script. 

The approval for the sale came after months of speculation, with reports in September indicating that the Kremlin had given the green light for Unilever to exit Russia.  

Russian news outlet RBC revealed that a sub-committee of the government commission approved the deal at the end of August, valuing Unilever’s Russian assets at between US$394 million and US$449 million.  

As of June 30, 2023, Unilever’s Russian business had net assets of around US$665 million, which included the four factories now under Arnest Group’s ownership. 

This acquisition is part of a growing list of Russian food and beverage businesses that Arnest Group has acquired since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.  

In late 2022, Arnest acquired Ball Corp.’s beverage packaging business, and more recently, in August 2023, it took over Heineken’s Russian operations for just one euro. 

Unilever has faced significant public pressure to cease its operations in Russia and Belarus due to the ongoing Ukraine conflict.  

Last year, the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine added Unilever to a list of companies labeled as “sponsors of war.”  

Despite halting imports and exports from Russia, Unilever continued to operate within the country, defending this decision as the “least bad” option. 

The completion of this sale marks the end of Unilever’s presence in both Russia and Belarus, following increasing scrutiny over its continued operations in the region. 

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