The cooperation between Rosatom, Transmashholding (TMH) and Sergey Shishkarev's group did not take place: TMH will not buy out 49% of Delo Group belonging to Rosatom. According to the Kommersant newspaper, the parties could not agree on the value of the asset, and it was decided to terminate the deal.
Delo Group is a major Russian transport and logistics holding specializing in sea and rail container transportation, grain transshipment and multimodal cargo transportation. The structure includes marine terminals (Baltic, Black and Azov Seas, Far East), a network of railway and road terminals, as well as digital services for logistics.
Negotiations were held at a recent meeting between Sergey Shishkarev, TMH CEO Kirill Lipa and Rosatom First Deputy CEO Kirill Komarov. Under last year's agreement, TMH had already bought 1% of Delo Management Company from Shishkarev, which will now be returned to the group's founder.
Earlier, Rosatom acquired 30% of Delo Group's capital in 2019 for 29.9 billion rubles and increased its stake to 49% by 2022, exercising an option to buy out an additional 19%.
The main reason for the breakdown of the deal was the lack of agreement on the valuation of the asset, which sources estimate at no less than 200 billion rubles. An additional factor was Rosatom's possible international partnership with port operator DP World (Dubai, UAE), which involves the sale of 50% minus one share of FESCO. This project creates an alternative international transport holding and shifts the priorities of the state corporation.