IKEA exits Russia fully as owner finds buyers for final divested properties

Sweden's Ingka Centers (the owner of the IKEA chain of stores and Mega shopping and entertainment centers in Russia) will sell 14 of its shopping centers with a total area of 2.3 million square meters to companies related to Gazprombank, the local newspaper Kommersant writes with reference to two sources in the local real estate market.

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According to the interlocutors of the publication, the parties have already reached certain agreements. Ingka Centers told the newspaper that the company is considering various options for Mega shopping centers in Russia.

Ingka Centers is the largest owner of commercial real estate in Russia: it owns 14 Mega shopping centers with a total area of 2.3 million square meters in 11 cities of Russia. In March 2022, IKEA flagship stores in these shopping centers closed.

Without taking into account the discount of 50%, which is required for the approval of the agreement by the government commission, the cost of the shopping centers will be $2.85 billion, said the president of the Russian Guild of Leading Developers Aleksandr Sharapov.

According to the calculations of the Russian Forbes, in 2022 the income of Ingka Centers in Russia from renting out space in the Mega shopping centers decreased by 19% – to $285 million from $350 million a year earlier.

Ingka Group suspended the operation of IKEA stores back in March 2022. After that, the company sold its factories in Russia for the production of furniture and materials. In February 2023, a Russian government commission approved the sale of three factories of the Swedish furniture manufacturer IKEA in Russia to two local companies.

In July, the chain's owner sold its headquarters.