French safe bet Schneider Electric will sell its operations in Russia and Belarus to local management, the electrical supplier said on Wednesday, which has signed a letter of intent with the designated buyers. As a result, the company said it would write down up to €300 million of net book value and perform a non-monetary currency translation inversion, estimated at €120 million.
“That’s the vast majority of what we have there,” the company’s chief financial officer told reporters on a conference call, adding that only a few unconsolidated assets would not be part of the deal.
The group employed 3,500 people in Russia and Belarus, while revenues generated by Schneider Electric’s activities in Russia accounted for 2% of sales, he said. Asked about the possibility of Schneider returning to Russia in the future, CFO Hilary Maxson replied that she “certainly wouldn’t rule it out”, but added that at this stage the priority was to withdraw from orderly way.
Separately, Russian news agency Interfax reported late Tuesday that French automaker Renault was to sell its 68% stake in Russia’s largest domestic automaker, Avtovaz, to a Russian scientific institute.