The owners of the Auchan supermarket chain have found a buyer for their branch in Russia, as they can no longer resist European sanctions.
According to Ukrinform, this was reported by La Lettre.
“As one of the few French retailers remaining in the country, Auchan has found a local buyer to exit Russia and has just entered the final stage of negotiations. The Mullier family [owners of the chain] decided to stay in Ukraine, but also plans to leave Hungary,” the newspaper writes.
According to the newspaper, Auchan Group has already selected two potential buyers from the local market. Over the past two years, the company has received about ten “unsolicited offers” to buy its network of 230 stores in Russia. But before that, its owners stubbornly refused to leave Russia. According to the official version, in order to continue supplying ordinary citizens with essential goods. In reality, it was because Russia was one of the largest strategic markets for the Mullier family, journalists say.
However, recently, the working conditions in Russia have deteriorated significantly, and it is becoming impossible for Auchan to continue operating in compliance with the 18 packages of sanctions imposed by the EU on Russia.
“Unlike other, less vigilant European retailers, Auchan is following the letter of the sanctions imposed on Russia. It does not invest or raise a single penny. This puts it at a great disadvantage compared to local retailers owned by Russian oligarchs, who can do nothing with their money but invest it in their company,” explained one of the company’s insiders.
Auchan is one of the largest French companies represented in Russia. In 2022, it operated 231 stores and had a turnover of 3.2 billion euros. At the same time, the Muller family also owns the Decathlon sporting goods chain and the Leroy Merlin construction hypermarket chain. The latter has 113 hypermarkets with an even higher turnover of 4 billion euros.
As Ukrinform reported, Leroy Merlin is leaving Russia, but the stores will continue to operate. Last year, the French group ADEO announced its intention to transfer control of all Russian Leroy Merlin hardware stores to local management.
