The owner of Leroy Merlin will transfer the Russian business management

The network owner Leroy Merlin will hand over the management of the Russian company to local management. The change will not affect business, the company stressed.

The French group ADEO, the owner of the construction and DIY network Leroy Merlin, intends to transfer the management of the Russian company to local management. This was reported to RBC by a representative of the company. He emphasized that the change will not affect the company's business either in relations with partners and customers, or in the work of employees - all jobs will be saved, and the company will continue to work as usual.

As stated in the message of the group, the deal will be agreed with the relevant representatives of the Russian authorities. RBC turned to the Federal Antimonopoly Service for comment. The company does not provide additional information on how the deal to transfer the business to local management will be arranged.

Today, Leroy Merlin in Russia is headed by Laurent Defassier, who took over as CEO in July 2019. Defassier began his career in the company in 1998 as a management controller, and arrived in Russia in 2010, taking the position of regional director of the North and Siberia region. His deputy Marina Fytova has been with the company since 2007, starting her career as a product manager.

Against the backdrop of the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine in 2022, many foreign companies left the Russian market. But in March 2022, the company assured its suppliers that it would continue to operate in the country. “Despite all the rumors, we continue to work and do not plan to stop the company’s activities,” Erica Poulet, CEO of Leroy Merlin Vostok LLC (operating company of the network), and Anna Goncharova, director of supplier relations, said in a letter to partners in March.

In February 2023, ADEO announced that even with the outbreak of the conflict, it decided to stop investing in and financing the Russian division of the company, as well as importing products from Russia.

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Today, the network of Leroy Merlin hypermarkets in Russia consists of 111 stores in 65 cities of Russia. At the end of 2022, it is among the top 10 largest retailers in the country, according to InfoLine-Analytics. Last year, the network's revenue increased by 15% compared to the comparable period, to 529.7 billion rubles.

According to Russian Accounting Standards (RAS) reporting, the revenue of the Leroy Merlin Vostok LLC operating company in 2021 amounted to 456.6 billion rubles, and net profit reached 35.5 million rubles. There are no data for 2022.

In January 2023, it also became known that Decathlon, one of the world's largest sports retailers, intends to sell its business in Russia (44.1% of the retailer is owned by the Mullier family, Decathlon founder Michel Leclerc and Auchan founder Gerard Mullier are cousins). Unlike Leroy Merlin, the sports retailer Decathlon, after the start of a special military operation and the imposition of Western sanctions, first suspended deliveries to Russia, and then completely closed its retail and online sales.

The press service of Auchan in Russia reported that the company does not plan to change either its strategy or the organization of work and operates autonomously - without investments from the parent company.

Last year, the French cosmetic concern L'Occitane Group got rid of the Russian asset: the company's shares were transferred to key Russian employees, including the CEO. The deal is cash, and the agreement of the parties provides that the Russian beneficiaries of the company will have to pay €44.5 million in approved tranches over four years, starting in 2025. Simultaneously with this condition, L'Occitane Group received a share buyback option.