Gazprombank buys IKEA stores owner's Russian MEGA shopping centres

Gazprombank Group has agreed to buy IKEA owner Ingka Group's 14 MEGA shopping centres in Russia for an undisclosed price, the two companies said on Thursday, in the latest exit from Russian business by a Western company following the Ukraine conflict. Gazprombank said it had bought the 2.3 million square metres of retail space and was committed to developing the assets.

Gazprombank Group has agreed to buy IKEA owner Ingka Group's 14 MEGA shopping centres in Russia for an undisclosed price, the two companies said on Thursday, in the latest exit from Russian business by a Western company following the Ukraine conflict.

Gazprombank said it had bought the 2.3 million square metres of retail space and was committed to developing the assets. "We are ready to assume additional obligations and intend to develop the MEGA shopping centre chain," Tigran Khachaturov, in charge of Gazprombank's industrial assets, said in a statement.

Ingka Centres, which has been present in Russia for more than 20 years, said in a statement the deal was expected to close within a few business days and that the company would then no longer have any operational business in the country. An Ingka Centres spokesperson declined to comment on the price of the transaction.

While the IKEA furniture chain halted all retail and production operations in Russia soon after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, Ingka kept the separate MEGA shopping malls open, arguing they provided basic consumer needs such as clothes, groceries and pharmaceuticals. In March, brand owner Inter IKEA finalised a deal to sell its largest factory in Russia and does not have an option to buy it back, the new owner said in April. Some Western companies leaving Russia have agreed options to potentially buy back assets.