Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office filed a lawsuit to nationalise the Russian assets of UK-based Raven Russia, according to Russian media.
This will mark the first time that the exit of a major foreign company has been cancelled, as Raven previously withdrew from Russia through an MBO (management buyout). The mechanism has been an exit strategy for large Western companies since the outbreak of war in Ukraine in February 2022.
Raven Russia is the country’s largest owner of warehouse real estate with a portfolio of 1.9 million square metres. The company owns 17 logistics parks, of which 10 are in the Moscow region and the rest in major cities with a million inhabitants. According to The Bell, analysts estimate the market value of the company’s Russian business at RUB 75-100 billion ($1-1.3 billion).
The founders of Raven Russia are British investors Anton Bilton and Glyn Hirsch. However, after the outbreak of war, the company was delisted from the London Stock Exchange’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM). The company was subsequently sold to its Russian executives Igor Bogorodov and Yaroslav Shuvalov and renamed Phoenix Property Group.
Now, the Prosecutor General’s Office has filed a lawsuit demanding that Raven Russia’s business be transferred in favour of the state. The office has put forward two claims: the purchase of such “strategic assets” as logistics terminals in Russia without special government authorisation, and the illegal re-registration of the company from Cyprus to the UAE after the MBO exit.
Previously, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decree paved the way for the nationalisation of foreign assets. The authorities have already taken measures against Finnish and German energy companies Fortum and Uniper, as well as brewing and dairy companies Carlsberg and Danone.
