OREANDA-NEWS Avtodom dealer Group has closed a deal to acquire the Russian assets of the German carmaker Mercedes-Benz, including the automobile plant near Moscow (Mercedes-Benz Manufacturing Rus LLC, MBMR).

As follows from the data of the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, Avtodom JSC became the owner of 100% of shares in MBMR and Mercedes-Benz Capital Rus LLC (engaged in leasing, factoring and car insurance) April 18th. Information about the dealer's acquisition of control over other local Mercedes structures is not yet reflected in the register.

Thus, the dealer closed the deal, which was announced at the end of October, when Mercedes officially announced its withdrawal from Russia and its intention to sell the assets of Avtodom. In particular, shares in two of these companies, as well as in Mercedes-Benz Rus JSC (official distributor in the Russian Federation), Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Rus LLC (leasing "daughter") and Mercedes-Benz Bank Rus LLC. The dealer received a presidential permit to purchase a captive bank in early February.

The amount of the transaction for the sale of Russian assets of Mercedes was not called. Avtodom reported that the German concern is granted an option to repurchase shares in the transferred legal entities "for a fair market price, which is subject to determination by an independent appraiser."

The Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation stated that after the deal Avtodom will be able to attract other companies as production partners to organize joint production of cars at the MBMR plant. In addition, the dealer got the right to carry out maintenance of Mercedes-Benz cars sold on the Russian market.

The dealer, for his part, promised to promptly select a partner to load the plant, without naming the applicants.

The governor of the Moscow Region, Andrey Vorobyov, said in September that a Chinese partner was being selected.

Natalia Koroleva, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Rus JSC, when announcing the sale of assets in the Russian Federation, noted that the main priorities when agreeing on the terms of the transaction were "maximum assurance of fulfillment of obligations to customers from Russia both in the field of after-sales service and financial services, as well as the preservation of jobs of employees of Russian divisions of the company."

The MBMR plant in the Esipovo Industrial Park in the Moscow region was under construction for two years and opened in the spring of 2019. Its production facilities are designed to produce a full cycle of 25-30 thousand cars per year. The first model of the company was the E-class sedan. It was planned to gradually establish the production of GLE, GLC and GLS SUVs.

Avtodom dealer Group was founded at the end of 1992 and has 27 dealerships in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Krasnodar. The company specializes in sales and service of premium and luxury cars. The dealer's portfolio includes 13 brands: BMW, BMW Motorrad, MINI, Lamborghini, Porsche, Audi, Mercedes Benz, smart, Volvo, Land Rover, Jaguar, Aurus, Ducati and KTM.

According to the statements of Avtodom JSC, the company's shareholders are entrepreneurs Andrey Olkhovsky (controls 50.1% of his shares through Bridge Capital LLC) and Andrey Kostin (46.8%).