The former poultry farm of Mikail Shishkhanov may go to the Tavros agricultural holding

The Tavros agricultural holding, based in Bashkiria, is close to taking a leading position in the edible egg market. The group may acquire the Komsomolskaya poultry farm with a capacity of 650 million eggs per year, previously owned by ex-shareholder of B&N Bank Mikail Shishkhanov. Egg prices are actively growing today, including due to additional demand from consumers from new regions, experts say.

The Tavros agricultural holding is negotiating with the Trust bank of non-core assets to purchase the Komsomolskaya poultry farm that produces edible eggs in the Perm Territory, a source in the industry told Kommersant. Three other Kommersant interlocutors know about the deal. According to two Kommersant sources, final approval is planned for next week. Trust and Tavros did not provide comments.

Komsomolskaya, with a capacity of about 650 million eggs per year, was part of the Healthy Farm Group of Companies, former shareholder of B&N Bank Mikail Shishkhanov. In 2018, after the Central Bank announced the reorganization of B&N Bank, Trust received control over the Healthy Farm. This spring, the bank put the poultry farm up for auction with a starting price of 1.95 billion rubles, but the auction did not take place due to a lack of applications.

During the transaction with Tavros, the asset may be sold at a price not lower than the one announced at the auction, says one of Kommersant’s sources. Managing Director of Peregrine Capital Dmitry Gabyshev notes that participation in the auction could lead to an increase in the starting price, so a direct transaction may be more profitable for the buyer.

Tavros’ main assets are concentrated in Bashkiria. According to its own data, the agricultural holding manages 117 thousand hectares of agricultural land, produces meat, sugar, and confectionery. More than 80% of Tavros Management Company LLC is owned by the managing partner of AVG Capital Partners, Rustem Mirgalimov, and Alfa Bank received 19.01% of the agricultural holding this summer (see Kommersant on June 29).

Kommersant sources spoke about Tavros’s interest in Komsomolskaya this spring. If the deal goes through, the poultry farms controlled by the holding may become leaders in the production of food eggs. At the end of 2022, the structure, which is associated in the market with Tavros, acquired the Bashkirskaya poultry farm with a capacity of 750 million eggs per year from the Cherkizovo group. In August 2023, Tavros bought an enterprise in the Kirov region, which this year can produce 320–325 million eggs. The total asset capacity of more than 1.7 billion eggs per year exceeds the result of the leader of the Rosptitsesoyuz rating of the Sinyavinskaya poultry farm, which produced 1.6 billion eggs in 2022. The Trust-Poultry Assets Management Company said that with additional investments, Komsomolskaya could increase production to 1.5 billion eggs per year.

Eggs are now on the list of the most expensive food products. According to Rosstat, from September 26 to October 2, chicken eggs increased in price by an average of 3.2%, and from the end of 2022 – by 6.63%. In August of this year, according to the latest available data from Rosstat, eggs cost an average of 79.33 rubles. versus 70.74 rub. a year earlier. According to market participants, the cost is affected by the rise in prices of fuel and meal, as well as an increase in staff salaries.

President of Agrifood Strategies Albert Davleev says that in addition to this, the rise in prices on the edible egg market is affected by additional demand from residents of the annexed regions. There are no large poultry farms there, but there are about 3.8 million consumers who often choose eggs as the most affordable source of protein, the expert notes. But egg production, Mr. Davleev continues, has not increased significantly in Russia, which is why fluctuations in demand affect prices.

According to Rosstat, the production of chicken eggs in the Russian Federation in January-August 2023 increased by 3.1% year-on-year, to 25.46 billion pieces. According to forecasts by the Center for Industry Expertise of Rosselkhozbank, in 2021–2025, egg consumption in the country per capita may increase from 308 to 320 eggs. Analysts associated the market prospects with growing demand for healthier and more nutritious food, and in the long term with the production and export of egg processing products.

Anatoly Kostyrev