BN Group has signed a deal with Unicor management company to acquire the developer assets of Russian businessman Boris Ivanishvili for $982.5 million, Unicor said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The assets purchased by the Group include an elite residential neighborhood, Garden Quarters, under construction in Khamovniki on an area of 11 hectares, a project of the Luxury Hotel compound under the management of the leading world operator Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, which envisages reconstructing the Tsentralnaya Hotel on Tverskaya Street, and also the multifunctional Summit complex that opened last year also on Tverskaya,” the statement said.
The portfolio of assets acquired by BN Group includes the Kauchuk rubber plant in Ochakovo with an area of 8.8 hectares.
“The parties intend to close the deal worth $982.5 million by August 15, 2012, after they go through all the procedures required by Russian legislation,” the statement said.
RBC daily business newspaper reported on Saturday quoting market sources that Ivanishvili was selling Doktor Stoletov, one of the country’s largest pharmacy chains, to the Imperia-Pharma firm for $60-70 million,.
Doktor Stoletov has 414 pharmacies in 11 regions of Russia.
On May 10, the businessman’s representative told Prime news agency that Ivanishvili was selling Rossiyskiy Kredit Bank, which is on the list of Russia’s 200 largest banks, to private investors for $352 million.
Georgian-born Ivanishvili, who holds Russian and French passports, has been involved in trying to set up an opposition party in Georgia, but has been prevented from doing so until now by not holding Georgian nationality.
The Georgian Parliament adopted an amendment to the country’s constitution on Tuesday allowing EU citizens to participate in parliamentary and presidential elections in the country as voters and candidates, allowing Georgian-born Ivanishvili to stand as a candidate in the polls, daily online news service Civil.ge reported.
Ivanishvili does not have a Georgian passport but holds French citizenship.
The new rule will be in force until 2014, allowing those who meet the requirements to take part in the 2012 parliamentary and 2013 presidential elections.