Raven Russia

Raven Russia is a representative of the warehouse sector of Russia.

History

Sale of BC "Premium" in St. Petersburg

Raven Russia, one of the largest warehouse owners in Russia, sold the Premium business center in St. Petersburg in July 2024. The new owner of the object with an area of ​ ​ 18.4 thousand square meters. m was the closed mutual investment fund (ZPIF) "RD 2," managed by the company "Savings Plus." Read more here

2023: Moving from Cyprus to Abu Dhabi

Prestino Investments, the largest warehouse owner in Russia, moved from Cyprus to Abu Dhabi. This became known in early August 2023.

According to Forbes, citing data from the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Companies, Prestino Investments Ltd changed jurisdiction to the UAE on February 13, 2023, and was also named Phoenix Real Estate Investment Holdings Limited.

Raven Russia (Holdings) Cyprus Limited transferred to the jurisdiction of the UAE capital and changed its name to Phoenix Property Group Limited

The Prestino Investments group owns more than 1.9 million square meters. m of warehouses throughout Russia, which were previously bought by the British developer Raven Property Group. On February 27, 2023, Raven Russia (Holdings) Cyprus Limited also passed into the jurisdiction of the UAE capital and changed its name to Phoenix Property Group Limited.

Raven Russia confirmed the redomicitation of the company. This was done for "the most effective organization of business processes in the context of sanctions and counter-sanctions restrictions."

The sanctions legislation European Union applies to companies registered in the EU, - Alexandra Berezhnaya, senior lawyer of the practice of sanctions law at Intana Legal, told the publication. - If the company is registered in the UAE, the risks associated with the need to comply with EU sanctions legislation are reduced. At the same time, in the described structure, the risks associated with the sanctions legislation USA and Britain will remain.

Re-registration can indeed provide a more attractive ownership structure for potential investors, says Tamrin Darbakov, a lawyer at Uppercase Lega. He added that mandatory discounts and commission requirements could still apply depending on the legislation and regulations in place in relation to asset sales.

By August 2023, Raven Russia owns warehouse real estate in the Moscow and Leningrad regions, St. Petersburg, Rostov-on-Don and Nizhny Novgorod. According to this indicator, the company is the largest owner of warehouse real estate in the Russian Federation.^[1]

2022: Transfer of Russian business to shareholders from the Russian Federation

The British warehouse developer Raven Property Group in mid-March 2022 decided to transfer its business in the Russian Federation to Russian top management due to the situation around Ukraine. The company also announced the suspension of trading in its shares on all exchanges.

In accordance with the developer's plan, Cyprus-based Prestino Investments, founded by Russian top managers led by Igor Bogorodov, will buy 100% in Cyprus-based Raven Russia Holdings Cyprus.

British warehouse developer Raven Group transfers its business in Russia to Russians

The company called its decision "the most effective way to meet sanctions requirements." At the same time, Russian assets will be sold at face value.

ILM managing partner Andrei Lukashev estimates the market value of the group's Russian warehouse business at 78-85 billion rubles. He told Vedomosti about this. Colliers International partner Stanislav Bibik says that taking into account the offices, it can cost about 100 billion rubles.

Emergency times require emergency measures to protect all employees and stakeholders of our business. The combination of market volatility and the constant risk of sanctions and retaliatory sanctions necessitates such a deal. We hope for peace and pray for it, "said Richard Jewison, chairman of the board of directors of Raven Property Group.

In early March, the company announced that due to the sanctions imposed on both sides, the company has limited access to monetary resources from Russian subsidiaries. And due to currency control, it has no option to convert rubles into alternative currencies even at current high rates. In this regard, she warned shareholders that payments of dividends at the end of 2021 and repayment of coupons on bond loans for the first quarter of 2022 in the current situation are "unlikely."^[2]

2021: Loan in the amount of 1.95 billion rubles from Raiffeisen Bank

Raiffeisen Bank on January 14, 2021 announced a loan agreement with Raven Russia. The bank provided the company with financing in the amount of 1.95 billion rubles for five years secured by the warehouse complex "New Riga."

Novaya Riga is a class A warehouse complex located next to the Novorizhskoye highway (M-9), 25 km from the MKD and 5 km from the A107 highway in the Istra district of the Moscow region. The object is located on a land plot with a total area of ​ ​ 38.2 hectares.

The warehouse "New Riga" has a British certificate of environmental energy efficiency of buildings BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method).

The bilateral loan agreement was signed in the form of standardized documentation for syndicated lending (Russian LMA), which allows, if necessary, to syndicate the transaction on the market. The agreement also provides for the borrower to hedge interest rate risk in Raiffeisen Bank.

Corporate clients can get all the financial instruments they need from Raiffeisen Bank. Our task is to be a financial partner and lead the company to its goals. The pandemic has not had a significant impact on the warehouse real estate market, this segment remains our priority area. Moreover, in difficult conditions, the warehouse market showed growth. As part of structuring and coordinating the transaction, we were once again convinced of the professionalism of the Raven Russian management team, as well as of the company's built business model, - commented Dmitry Sredin, Managing Director, Head of the Department for Work with Large Companies and the Department of Investment Banking Products.

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