Gazprombank buys Russia MEGA shopping centres from IKEA affiliated business

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Gazprombank Group has bought 14 MEGA shopping centres in Russia from a unit of IKEA store operator Ingka Group for an undisclosed price, the companies said on Thursday, in the latest exit from Russian business by a Western company following the Ukraine conflict.

Gazprombank said it had bought the 2.3 million square metres of retail space from Ingka Centres and was committed to developing the assets.

"We are ready to assume additional obligations and intend to develop the MEGA shopping centre chain," Tigran Khachaturov, in charge of Gazprombank's industrial assets, said in a statement.

Ingka Centres, which has been present in Russia for more than 20 years, said in a statement the deal was expected to close within a few business days and that the company would then no longer have any operational business in the country.

An Ingka Centres spokesperson declined to comment on the price of the transaction.

Ingka Group operates the Ingka Centres chain of shopping malls and IKEA Retail, which operates most of the world's IKEA furniture outlets. Each Ingka Centres shopping mall is located close to an IKEA store.

While the IKEA furniture chain halted all retail and production operations in Russia soon after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, Ingka kept the separate MEGA shopping malls open, arguing they provided basic consumer needs such as clothes, groceries and pharmaceuticals.

In March, brand owner Inter IKEA finalised a deal to sell its largest factory in Russia and does not have an option to buy it back, the new owner said in April. Some Western companies leaving Russia have agreed options to potentially buy back assets.

(Reporting by ReutersWriting by Alexander MarrowEditing by Mark Potter)