Insight Group buys former Avis car rental service in Russia

MOSCOW. Aug 2 (Interfax) - Insight Group, an investment company controlled by Avet Mirakyan, has added to its portfolio of assets acquired from foreign companies that have left Russia.

Insight Group, after securing permission from the authorities, has acquired Bilantliya, the operator of short- and long-term automobile rental services in more than 20 Russian cities that previously operated under the global brands Avis and Budget, a source familiar with the situation told Interfax.

The company changed its brand to RexRent in March 2022, but it was still owned by Denmark's Carirus ApS and Biler i Rusland A/S until recently.

Insight Group confirmed the acquisition of JSC Bilantliya from a number of legal entities and said the deal is "consistent with strategic plans" to develop the investment group with various competencies in the leasing industry.

Bilantliya closed 2022 with a net profit of 242.4 million rubles on revenue down to 854 million rubles from 983 million rubles in 2021.

Mirakyan, the former CEO of PJSC SFI , founded Insight Group last year with partners. He owns 80% of the company, and Artyom Astanin, Anton Barsht, Mikhail Gonopolsky, Alexei Komar and David Pogosyan each own 4%. The company has already acquired several captive leasing operators from multinationals that have left Russia, including Siemens and Deere & Co. .