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9.2 Major corporate news 9.2.5 Retail corporate news
French dairy major Danone negotiates acquisition of Russia's largest baby food producer Progress , Kommersant daily reported on November 26 citing unnamed industry sources. Progress is owned by Olga Belyavtseva and Svetlana Bortsova, posting 15.7% revenue decline in 2017 to RUB20.3bn and net profit of RUB3bn. Reportedly the sale of the company has been on agenda for a few years already. Previously Swiss food major Nestle tried to acquire Progess, but could not reach an agreement over $485mn valuation of Progress,accordingto Kommersant. NestlesaidinMarch2018thatit plansto continue expanding in Russia and Eurasia, not deterred by the sharp deterioration with West-Russia relations. Danone has about 15% of Russia's baby food market, second to PepsiCo with 20%. Acquisition of Progress would bring its market share to 40%. In such case Sivma of Vasily Labzin would remain the last large domestic player on the market, industry analysts told Kommersant .
32 BELARUS Country Report December 2018 www.intellinews.com
