Arnest Acquires Reckitt's Russian Business in Latest Deal from Western Companies Exiting Russia

Russian consumer goods manufacturer Arnest has agreed to acquire the Russian business of British household products company Reckitt, extending a string of acquisitions that has transformed the regional aerosol producer into one of the biggest buyers of assets sold by Western companies exiting Russia. The deal, first reported by the Financial Times, will give Arnest control of Reckitt's Russian consumer goods operations, which manufacture products sold under brands including Vanish, Durex, Finish and Calgon. Reckitt will retain its medical business in Russia. The sale is expected to result in a loss of around 175 million pounds ($233 million) for Reckitt, which started preparing to transfer the business after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, FT reported. Arnest, owned by businessman Alexei Sagal, was until a few years ago best known as a regional producer of aerosol products, including the insecticide Dichlorvos. Since 2022, however, it has completed a series of high-profile acquisitions of assets previously owned by foreign companies. In late 2022, Arnest acquired the Russian operations of U.S.-based Ball Corporation, which manufactured aluminum beverage cans, in a deal estimated to be worth about $530 million. He purchased the Russian business of Dutch brewer Heineken the following year. Russian newspaper Kommersant reported that Arnest paid a symbolic one euro for the business, while assuming roughly 12 billion rubles ($153.6 million) in debt owed to Heineken's parent company. In 2024, Arnest acquired Unilever's Russian business for approximately 520 million euros and also took control of the Russian operations of Swedish cosmetics company Oriflame. Arnest's rapid expansion has been linked by media reports to Sagal's relationship with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, who previously served for more than a decade as industry and trade minister. Independent Russian business publication The Bell reported that Manturov provided administrative support for Arnest's acquisitions, citing consultants who advised Western companies. One source told the publication that Arnest would not have been able to complete the deals without such backing. The relationship between Sagal and Manturov has also drawn attention because of the Industry and Trade Ministry's support for Arnest before the war. In 2016, the ministry backed the creation of an aerosol industrial cluster based around Arnest's facilities in the southern city of Nevinnomyssk, making the company eligible for government subsidies and tax incentives. Manturov also visited an Arnest factory in 2019, where Sagal personally gave him a tour. According to a source cited by The Bell, their relationship developed in part through the Manturov family's ties to the Krasnodar region, where the deputy prime minister owns assets. Read this article in Russian at The Moscow Times' Russian service.