Efko Group gets regulatory approval to buy producer of Oleina sunflower oil - paper

MOSCOW. July 1 (Interfax) - Efko Group, one of Russia's largest food producers, has secured approval from the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) to buy out Maslenytsa LLC, a former subsidiary of U.S. agribusiness giant Bunge, from Exoil Group, national daily Kommersant reported on Tuesday.

The deal will increase Efko's stake in the company to 100% from the current 31.4% and give the group the rights to the popular Oleina and Ideal vegetable oil brands, the paper said.

The regulator has not yet responded to questions, Kommersant said.

Exoil Group co-owner Karen Vanetsyan said his company decided to sell Maslenytsa because it plans to focus on its export business and stop working on the local market. The group does not plan to sell other assets in Russia at the moment.

The head of the M&A department at BGP Capital, Ivan Peshkov estimated Maslenytsa's market value at 16 billion-17 billion rubles, while investment banker Ilya Shumov put it at 18 billion-20 billion rubles.

Maslenytsa has an oil extraction plant in the Voronezh Region village of Kolodezny in which Bunge invested $130 million. An elevator for construction was purchased in 2006 by Efko Group divisions. The plant can now process 2,100 tonnes of sunflower seeds per day and produce 200 million bottles of oil annually.

Efko plans to expand capacity to 2,600 tonnes of seeds per day, Kommersant said, citing the company.

Maslenytsa LLC was founded in 2004 and known as Bunge CIS until 2023, when it was renamed after being sold to Exoil Group. Maslenytsa is now 0.1% owned by Vanetsyan and 99.9% by Agroinvest LLC, which in turn is 68.6% owned by Qatar-based KGA Holding LLC, a company that is thought to be affiliated with Exoil Group, the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (USRLE) showed.

Efko Group subsidiary Efko Food Products bought a 31.4% stake in Maslenytsa on April 14, 2025.

Maslenytsa closed 2024 with net profit down 18.7% to 2.8 billion rubles on revenue up 23.9% to 32.4 billion rubles.

Bunge began working in Russia in 2004 and oilseed processing was its last business in the country.

Efko Group's principal owners are Valery Kustov, Yevgeny Lyashenko and Vladislav Romantsev. The group increased its revenue by 23% to 344 billion rubles in 2024, according to the Infoline Food & Drink ranking.