Group check-in to Arkhyz – Newspaper Kommersant No. 190 (7391) dated 10/13/2022
[ad_1]
AFK Sistema, founded by Vladimir Yevtushenkov, and Sinara by Dmitry Pumpyansky are preparing to jointly buy out the rights to develop the Arkhyz resort in Karachay-Cherkessia from the state company Kavkaz.RF. The creation of a joint venture will allow the parties to minimize the costs of the transaction, experts say. Another contender for the asset is Krasnaya Polyana, owned by the family of the ex-governor of the Krasnodar Territory, Alexander Tkachev. The future investor will need to attract about 60 billion rubles for the development of the resort, but it is not a fact that the project will be profitable.
The structures of AFK Sistema and the Sinara group registered A-invest LLC on a parity basis in September, it follows from the data of the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. This joint venture can redeem from the state company Kavkaz.RF the management company Arkhyz, which manages the ski resort of the same name in Karachay-Cherkessia. Since the opening of the resort in 2015, the Sinara structures have owned the Romantic Hotel at the foot of the highway.
The fact that “Sistema” and “Sinara” are among the contenders for the purchase of the resort, “Kavkaz.RF” reported earlier. On Wednesday, October 12, the state-owned company, as well as Sinar, did not respond to Kommersant’s request. AFK Sistema declined to comment.
The Arkhyz all-season ski resort occupies 20,000 hectares, according to the official website. The federal authorities started building it in 2010. Kavkaz.RF previously estimated the state’s total investment in the project at 23 billion rubles, for which 27 km of ski slopes, eight cable cars, and 2,000 beds in hotels were created. According to the state company, in 2020 the resort achieved operating profitability, in 2021 it was visited by 693 thousand people.
The intention of Kavkaz.RF to sell 100% of Arkhyz Management Company became known this summer. According to the documentation, it is initially planned to sell 25% of the structure’s shares. The buyer will undertake investment obligations: to build at least 30 km of ski slopes located on an area of 115 hectares, 100 hectares of which must be equipped with artificial snowmaking systems. In addition, investors should create a single ski area with cable cars in the settlements of Romantik, Lunnaya Polyana and Dukka, and increase the total number of hotel rooms at the resort to 8,000 beds. As the requirements are met, the investor will be able to buy out the remaining 75% of the UK until 2031-2037. But the structure of the deal can still change. Thus, Sinara in the proposal indicates the expediency of transferring to the investor at the first stage 50% plus 1 share of Arkhyz Management Company JSC.
It is planned to hold an investor selection competition in November-December. The initial minimum price of the entire package is 17.02 billion rubles, according to the documentation. The creation of a joint venture by Sistema and Sinara to participate in the tender, according to Marat Ibragimov, a senior analyst at Gazprombank, will allow companies to save on initial investments and reduce the risk of non-repayment of funds if the project fails. JV participants can sign an agreement under which one party will sell a share to another in the future, earning as a financial investor, and the second participant will remain a manager, he adds.
Sistema and Sinara are not the only contenders for Arkhyz Management Company: NAO Krasnaya Polyana, controlled by the family of the ex-governor of the Krasnodar Territory Alexander Tkachev, also retains interest in the resort. A company representative told Kommersant that the structure plans to participate in the auction on its own.
To further build up the hotel stock in Arkhyz to 8,000 beds, at least 60 billion rubles will be required, Stanislav Ivashkevich, the founder of Ivashkevich Hospitality, calculated. Deputy Chairman of the Council of the Union of Tourism and Hospitality Roman Yeremyan does not exclude that the purchase of Arkhyz Management Company is interesting for investors with excess liquidity: there are not many opportunities to invest, and by developing tourism infrastructure, one can count on soft loans and improved relations with the authorities. But the expert warns that the project may not be profitable. He explains this by the fact that it is quite expensive to operate ski resorts, especially given the dependence on imported components in the construction of resort infrastructure and the limited effective demand of the population.
[ad_2]
Source link
