Regulator gives green light for Tatneft to acquire Nokian Tyres business in Russia

ST. PETERSBURG. Feb 9 (Interfax) - Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has approved applications from oil company Tatneft to acquire a number of legal entities from Finnish tire manufacturer Nokian Tyres, the regulator told Interfax.

"The FAS of Russia has approved three applications from PJSC Tatneft regarding the acquisition of equity stakes in the amount of 100% in Nokian Tyres LLC, Hakka Invest LLC and Nokian Shina LLC from Nokian Tyres," a spokesman for the regulator said.

The FAS said that if the transaction is subject to provisions of presidential decree No. 618 it can be carried out only after receiving permission from the government commission for control over foreign investment.

Nokian Tyres announced its exit from the Russian market last summer, and in October it said that would sell its assets in Russia to Tatneft. The parties signed an agreement, and the transaction price is expected to be around 400 million euros, though it could be adjusted depending on a number of factors, including net cash and working capital adjustment, and changes in exchange rates.

Nokian manufactures and sells tires for cars, offroad vehicles, commercial vehicles, trucks and industrial equipment. The group also includes the Vianor chain of tire centers.

The company opened its plant in Vsevolozhsk in September 2005. It has 14 production lines with capacity to produce 17 million tires per year. In 2021, about 80% of the company's car tires were made in Russia, and the Russia and Asia business division generated about 20% of Nokian Tyres' net sales.