Amsterdam, 27 June 2008 - X5 Retail Group N.V., Russia's largest food retailer in terms of sales, announces today that it has completed the acquisition of the entire issued share capital of Formata Holding B.V., the owner of the Karusel hypermarket chain and is ready to proceed to the integration of the company as planned.
In accordance with the share purchase agreement between X5 and the shareholders of Formata as of 25 June 2008, X5 has completed the acquisition of the entire issued share capital of Formata on 26 June 2008, and the operational control over Karusel has passed to X5 Retail Group. Now, in accordance with the previously developed plan X5 begins the integration of Karusel.
Commenting on today’s announcement, Lev Khasis, the CEO of X5 Retail Group said: “We are happy to announce the completion of this strategic transaction. The key focus for us now is integration and our efforts will be concentrated on making this process as smooth and efficient as possible”.