Kopeika’s 40 stores in Moscow, the Moscow region and Nizhny Novgorod, which have a total area of 50,000 square meters and make up roughly a quarter of the company’s retail chain, will be used as collateral, the source said. The stores have a total market value of almost $4.2 billion rubles.
Sberbank will also take a 51 percent stake in the retailer’s parent company, Kopeika-Moskva, as collateral as well. Kopeika-Moskva accounts for 90 percent of the retailer’s profits, which came to 51.6 billion rubles last year, the source said.
Alexander Tarasov, Kopeika’s chief financial officer, confirmed the information, adding that Sberbank had already decided to make the loan but has not yet sent the funds.
The remaining 2 billion rubles of Kopeika’s loan will be refinanced using the company’s own means, Tarasov said.
The company’s goal is to lengthen the terms of its debt portfolio, Tarasov said. After refinancing its third series bonds, 90 percent of the company’s debt would be long term, he said.
The three-year bonds will include a put option due Aug. 19.
Kopeika currently has 9.5 billion rubles of debt.
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