OREANDA-NEWS. September 10, 2012. Unicor management company reports of signing the agreement on selling Stoylenskaya Niva agricultural corporation with Arco International Group American Investment Fund. This is the last Russian business asset of Bidzina Ivanishvili, the entrepreneur, having been sold after the disposals of its financial and developer’s assets and pharmaceutical retail in Russia as well. The transaction amount constituted 180 million USA dollars. The parties plan to complete the transaction, inclusive passing all the necessary proceedings and making final calculations, within two upcoming months.

“Stoylenskaya Niva” Agro-Industrial company” was founded in 2000 and currently is one of the largest holdings of agro-industrial sector of the country. Stoylenskaya Niva holds the first position on the total volume of breadstuffs produced, the 3rd position on flour production, the 6th position on volumes of confectionary produced.

“Primarily our interests were connected with Unicor developer’s assets, but at the same time we also studied the asset quality of Stoylenskaya Niva AIC”, said Franchesco Piovanetti, the General Director of Arco International Group. “According to the results of the analysis of the activity of the agro-industrial corporation we made a decision to take part in the tender which we have won, unlike the tender for purchasing the developer’s assets where the commercial offer of Arco International Group turned to be less competitive”.

“Purchasing of Stoylenskaya Niva in Russia is the continuation of the investment strategy of Arco International Group on forming the agricultural assets at developing markets”, noted Franchesco Piovanetti, the General Director of Arco International Group. “The prospective viability of the given investments is confirmed by the leading positions of the Russian agro-industrial holding company and its active marketing strategy on producing and enlarging of the product line”.

Arco International Group (www.arcocapital.com) is the American Investment Fund specializing on alternative investments in developing markets and on managing the assets in commercial, infrastructural and realty spheres.

Stoylenskaya Niva AIC (www.stniva.ru) is the diversified corporation specializing on production of breadstuff and confectionary goods, grain processing. The corporation was founded on December 9, 2000, in Stary Oskol town of Belgorodskaya region. The bread-baking and grain processing enterprises of the holding companies are located in 10 regions of the Russian Federation (Belgorodskaya, Kurskaya, Voronezhskaya, Penzenskaya, Smolenskaya, Ivanovskaya, Nizhegorodskaya, Saratovskaya, Yaroslavskaya, Volgogradskaya). The Bread-Baking division of the corporation includes 14 bread-baking plants, the Grain Processing division consists of 5 enterprises. The bread-baking plants of the AIC produce more than 350 thousand tons of breadstuffs and confectionary goods a year. The assortment of the enterprises includes about 2000 names of breadstuffs and confectionary goods. The production capacities of the Grain Processing division allow to store about 350 thousand tons and to process up to 430 thousand tons of grain a year. The quantity of the staff of Stoylenskaya Niva constitutes about 10 thousand people.