A major American investor, International Paper, is leaving the Russian market. It has already agreed to sell its stake in Ilim SA to Russian shareholders. The deal amounted to $484 million for a 50% stake in the company. This was reported by the press service of International Paper. We are also talking about the sale of a 2.39% stake in the Ilim group.
The buyers were International Paper partners Zakhar Smushkin and brothers Boris and Mikhail Zingarevich. And although the deal has already been signed, it is too early to talk about its completion. The deal is still subject to regulatory approval. According to the Kommersant newspaper, the FAS has not yet received a request for approval. It is worth noting that at the end of last year, the Russian authorities did not allow the exit of the Austrian company Mondi from the market.
The Ilim Group is the leader of the pulp and paper industry in Russia. International Paper has been the lead partner of the Ilim Group since 2007. The Ilim Group includes three largest pulp and paper mills and two corrugated board plants, as well as the design institute Sibgiprobum. The company’s mills produce 75% of all Russian market pulp, 20% of cardboard and 10% of Russian paper. The company’s total annual production of pulp and paper products is over 3.6 million tons.
After the start of a special military operation to protect Donbass, many foreign investors and companies decided to leave the Russian market. On November 22, 2022, it became known that NVIDIA, a major manufacturer of graphics processors, would leave the Russian Federation due to anti-Russian sanctions.
