Rosatom has gained full control of one of the largest transport and logistics groups in Russia by purchasing controlling shares from Sergey Shishkarev, the founder of Delo Group. The company, which previously held 49% of Delo's shares, has now acquired the remaining 51% and is integrating this company with its other transport assets, including the FESCO shipping and logistics group.
Details of the Deal and Valuation
The final financial details of this deal have not been disclosed, but the "Russian Roulette" mechanism activated earlier this year estimated the value of Shishkarev's 51% stake at 77 billion rubles (900 million dollars). In this process, Rosatom's 49% stake was valued at 74 billion rubles.
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Goals and Vision of the Merger
Alexey Likhachev, CEO of Rosatom, announced that the group intends to establish a joint management center for Delo, FESCO, and its other transport assets. This initiative aims to consolidate maritime, port, rail, and road transport operations and seeks to create the largest national logistics company in Russia.
Delo Group has a large container platform and includes marine and inland terminals, with a capacity of over 220,000 TEU and about 40,000 rail platforms. Additionally, this group controls the KSK grain terminal in Novorossiysk, which has an annual capacity of 10 million tons.
FESCO is also another important element in this merger. Rosatom holds 92.5% of the shares of this Vladivostok-based group, whose assets include over 30 vessels, container and rail operations, and the commercial port of Vladivostok.
This merger ends a long-standing ownership dispute. Rosatom initiated the buy-sell process in February after disagreements arose with Shishkarev. The founder of Delo initially decided to purchase Rosatom's shares but ultimately abandoned this decision and returned the purchase rights to the state-owned company.
Now, the combined logistics assets account for about 50% of the Russian container transport market and 44% of rail container transport.
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