The Iranian investor did not reach Aleksandrov

The Iranian manufacturer of household appliances Entikhab Group cannot agree with the Turkish Vestel on the purchase of facilities in the Vladimir region, Kommersant has found out. The deal was valued at $45 million, and Rusklimat was to become the plant’s management company. However, they decided that they were not interested in the project. There are other contenders for the capacity of the Turkish vendor, but experts believe that the Iranian investor will be able to find a new scheme and complete the deal.

The deal between the Iranian Entikhab Group and the Turkish Vestel to sell the company’s plant in Aleksandrov was in jeopardy. The founder of the manufacturer of household appliances Jacky’s and ex-manager of Vestel Huseyn Imanov, who participated in the negotiations, told Kommersant about this. According to him, the parties agreed on a price in the region of $45 million (4.1 billion rubles); the management company on the part of the Iranian investor in the Russian Federation was to be the air conditioner manufacturer Rusklimat. “However, apparently, the Entikhab Group was unable to agree on organizing work with Rusklimat, so the deal was not completed,” Mr. Imanov clarified. According to him, Vestel production in Aleksandrov has been stopped “at the initiative of the owner” since 2016.

Iranian manufacturers of household appliances have shown interest in localizing production in Russia at the end of 2023 (see Kommersant on October 13). Then we were talking about the manufacturers of refrigerators and vacuum cleaners Datees and Emersun, and market participants named the factories of the departed LG and Samsung as capacities in the Russian Federation.

Later, Vedomosti, citing consultants for the sale of land properties, reported that negotiations on the purchase of the Vestel plant were being conducted by the Iranian Entekhab Group. The company’s official website states that it produces refrigerators, washing machines and dishwashers, small household appliances, televisions and other equipment.

Pavel Simonov, director of legal and corporate affairs at the Rusklimat trading and production holding, told Kommersant that they “have no plans for a Turkish brand plant.” “As for the sale of Vestel, we know that the purchase offer was sent by a Russian company,” he added, refusing to specify the name of the investor.

At the same time, Mr. Simonov says that projects for the development of industrial production with Iranian companies have been discussed since the fall of 2023, and Entekhab Group signed a memorandum with the Vladimir region on the construction of a new plant. The declared investments in this project were 22.8 billion rubles.

According to SPARK-Interfax, Vestel CIS LLC is owned by the Turkish Vestel Elektronik, a legal entity registered in the Vladimir region in 2005. The LLC’s revenue in 2022 amounted to 5.8 billion rubles. with a net loss of 470 million rubles. Vestel CIS LLC owns two buildings in Aleksandrov with an area of ​​70.3 sq. m. m and 24.7 sq. m with a nominal value of 2.1 million rubles. and 273 thousand rubles. In 2024, the company changed its CEO twice. From February 21 to March 25, the company was headed by Lyudmila Kuznetsova. On March 25, the previous head of Vestel CIS LLC, Hasan Oden, became the general director. As an interlocutor familiar with the progress of the transaction explained to Kommersant, a change in the general director was needed precisely to formalize the deal with Entekhab Group. According to him, it was planned to sell only the plant building, and not the entire legal entity.

In Aleksandrov there is a modern plant that has been “correctly mothballed,” so production here can be restarted quite quickly, notes Dmitry Levin, managing director of large household appliances at Marvel Distribution. According to him, several years ago Rusklimat launched a plant for the production of climate control equipment in the neighboring city of Kirzhach (Vladimir Region), so the interest in Vestel’s facilities is understandable from a logistics point of view.

“For both sides (Iranian and Russian.— “Kommersant”) this transaction is of real interest, so the likelihood of its completion is still very high,” says Mr. Levin. He added that for Aleksandrov the Vestel plant “is not a city-forming enterprise, but it is important for raising the standard of living in the region.”

Timofey Kornev