“Vkusville” buys the chain of family cafes “Anderson”

The growth of the catering market in Russia is attracting non-core players. As Kommersant learned, the food retailer Vkusvill bought the brand and main assets of the Anderson chain with an estimated value of 600–800 million rubles. The deal will allow the retailer to expand the group of consumers and delivery channels for products under its brands, analysts believe.

“Vkusville” is buying the “Anderson” chain of family cafes, a source familiar with the deal told Kommersant and an interlocutor in the retail real estate market. Vkusville clarified to Kommersant that they have already closed the deal to purchase the Anderson brand and the network’s main assets. According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, Vkusville Cafe LLC, controlled by Vkusville, in November became the pledgee of shares in Anderson-Franchising LLC, TD Anderson LLC, Anderson Happiness Factory LLC and Ikke LLC.

The Anderson network was founded in 2009 by Anastasia Tatulova. It includes a confectionery factory and about 40 cafes, operating mainly as a franchise in Moscow, the Moscow region, Tyumen, Nizhny Novgorod, Voronezh, Krasnodar, Arkhangelsk, as well as in Kazakhstan. According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, Ms. Tatulova owns 67% each of TD Anderson and Anderson Franchising, another 33% and 25% in these companies belong to Alexander Lebedev’s NRK LLC. “Anderson Factory of Happiness” and “Ikke” are owned by the general director of “TD Anderson” Lolita Khaidarova.

Vkusville was founded in Moscow in 2012 by Andrei Krivenko, among the investors was Baring Vostok. Manages more than 1.4 thousand stores, where 300 cafes, 55 bakeries and 80 dark kitchens have been opened since 2019. Revenue in 2022 increased by 25.4%, to 203.39 billion rubles, net profit amounted to 3.09 billion rubles.

Vkusville reported that they plan to continue developing the Anderson chain as a franchise and expect to strengthen their position in the public catering market. The retailer clarified that the companies already had common projects: in 2018, Vkusville began selling Anderson desserts, and then included dishes from cafes in its delivery service from restaurants.

Anastasia Tatulova told Forbes in 2020 that Andrei Krivenko, during the crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic, “offered help with money to close the cash gap.” The Anderson representative and Ms. Tatulova did not respond to Kommersant, and Alexander Lebedev could not be contacted. The cost of the kitchen factory and the Anderson brand was estimated by Infoline-Analytics CEO Mikhail Burmistrov at 600–800 million rubles. According to the analyst, in 2022 the entire cafe chain received 2.5 billion rubles. revenue excluding VAT.

Ms. Tatulova herself valued her business at more than 1 billion rubles in 2020. Kommersant’s sources in the restaurant market say that Vkusville has long been looking for assets in the restaurant market for acquisition, and Anastasia Tatulova might want to get out of business due to “administrative pressure.” In the spring of 2022, she left the post of ombudsman for the protection of small and medium-sized businesses, explaining to Forbes that the work “has simply become dangerous” for her and her loved ones. In November 2022, Ms. Tatulova also reported on large-scale inspections in all cafes of the network.

Senior analyst at Gazprombank Marat Ibragimov says that for Vkusville the deal creates an opportunity to expand its consumer group at the expense of Anderson visitors and gain another channel for selling products under its own brands. The Anderson concept coincides with the positioning of Vkusville, agrees Mikhail Burmistrov. “Vkusville” also has resources for the further development of “Anderson,” adds RestCon CEO Elena Perepelitsa.

There has been a recovery in traffic in the restaurant market. Attendance at Moscow restaurants, which had remained below last year’s levels since the beginning of 2023, began to grow in September-October. The number of orders year-on-year increased by 8%, and revenue by 17%. There is an increase in traffic throughout the country, although market participants see consumers’ continued commitment to saving (see Kommersant on November 7). According to Rosstat, in January-September the turnover of the restaurant market increased by 13.1%, to 2.03 trillion rubles.

Daria Andrianova, Alina Savitskaya