According to Izvestia, citing two sources close to the deal participants, Auchan agreed in the summer to sell its Russian division to the investment holding company Kama Capital, and by early September the parties had submitted documents to the government commission overseeing foreign investments. Approval could not be obtained, and after Auchan was placed under temporary administration on September 17, the agreement finally fell apart. The newspaper’s sources did not name the deal amount.
INFOLine CEO Mikhail Burmistrov estimates Auchan’s business, together with its financial assets, at 60–70 billion rubles. The chain has 230 stores in Russia, and revenue for 2025 fell by 2.9% to 269.7 billion rubles. According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, the sole owner of Kama Capital is listed as Tagir Shaymardanov, and in spring 2024 the holding company already bought Ceetrus’s Russian assets from Auchan’s former structure.
Izvestia’s sources linked the authorities’ decision to the retailer’s developed warehouse infrastructure, which they called strategically important; on the same day, Leman PRO, the former Leroy Merlin, was also placed under temporary administration. One interlocutor claimed that these companies were not initially included on the list, and then the situation was changed by “well-known summer events”. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained the decision on September 18 by saying that Moscow was dissatisfied with the management of assets by unfriendly countries.
Lidings lawyer Artyom Zakharchenko said that only the president can end temporary administration, so the application previously submitted to the government commission loses its meaning. According to him, the foreign owner retains the right to negotiate a sale, although its options during this period are significantly limited. He cited Carlsberg and Danone as examples.
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