Nosters

History

2023

Purchase of Baltic Malt plant by Grainrus

One of the largest malt producers in Russia, Grainrus, bought the Baltic Malt plant (Nosters LLC), which was previously associated with the Ananyev brothers. A record of the change of ownership appeared in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities at the end of October 2023.

The press service of Grainrus RBC confirmed the expansion of production capacities due to the manufacturer of malt Nosters acquired in September 2023. Grainrus clarified that this plant is one of the most modern sites in Europe. Its capacity is 115 thousand tons per year, per day it ships at least 1 thousand tons. This production supplies malt to multinational and regional brewing companies in Russia, the CIS and abroad (Azerbaijan, Mexico, Vietnam, the USA, Brazil and others).

Grainrus bought the Baltic Malt plant

The Greinrus agricultural holding was founded by Vladislav Chernov in 1997, among the main business areas - the production and sale of raw materials for brewing and distillation, grain trading. The company may account for about 15% of all malt production in Russia.

The acquisition of the enterprise in St. Petersburg will allow Grainrus not only to deliver malt in Russia and other countries in the optimal time, but will also make it possible to produce more than 25 varieties of malt "according to the individual requirements of consumers," said Dmitry Morozov, manager of the malt direction of the group. For the buyer, Nosters LLC is a profile asset that is well built into the current business of the group, Shumov believes.

By the end of October 2023, the market value of the assets of Nosters LLC is at best comparable to the amount of the PSB loan on the company's balance sheet in the amount of about 1.46 billion rubles, estimates investment banker Ilya Shumov.

Most likely, the new buyer has already agreed with PSB to redeem the rights of PSB claims at a discount or a profitable restructuring of the PSB loan in the future, and the sale of shares in Nosters LLC was carried out at a symbolic cost, which was able to cover the costs and commission of the past owner, Proxima Capital Group, for assistance in implementing the transaction, the expert believes.[1]

Proxima Capital Group bought the Nosters plant

The bankrupt malting plant Nosters was bought by Proxima Capital Group. This became known at the end of July 2023.

Proxima Capital Group plans to withdraw assets from bankruptcy proceedings and intends to pay off all claims of creditors. According to the bankruptcy trustee of Nosters Artem Sobolev, it was possible to maintain the staff of the plant and increase production.

Nikolai Titov, co-founder of a.t.Legal, notes that repayment of all debts included in the register is mandatory to terminate bankruptcy. The PSB reported that by the end of July 2023, the debt has not yet been settled.

Proxima Capital Group bought out a factory previously associated with the Ananyev brothers for the production of barley malt for beer

As stated in the Agroexport review, in 2022, malt production in Russia increased by 5.6%, to 1.7 million tons, and imports decreased by 34.7%, to 69.6 thousand tons. Independent expert Alexei Nebolsin says that many European suppliers have stopped shipping to Russia. Vyacheslav Mamontov, executive director of the Association of Beer, Malt and Beverage Producers, noted that more than 90% of malt used by brewers is locally produced, and imported malt is usually required for the production of non-classical varieties. Igor Khavsky, co-owner of the SWAM Group distributor and Gletcher brewery, also notes that local malt is generally enough for the needs of enterprises producing mass-segment beer.

2018-2020

Nosters was declared bankrupt in 2020, the main debt to Promsvyazbank (PSB) at that time amounted to 1.46 billion rubles. According to data for 2018, the capacity of the enterprise was 120 thousand tons of products per year.

According to Kommersant, the former owners of Nosters could be associated with ex-shareholders of PSB] Dmitry and Alexei Ananyev. As stated in the court materials, the owners of Nosters Abessynia Trading Ltd. and Galeritus Trade & Invest Ltd. participated in schemes to withdraw funds from PSB and PSB-affiliated structures and Nosters could be controlled by PSB.^[2]

Notes