Hals Development takes control of the only joint development with French Apsys

2012-01-03



Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Committee (FAS) has approved the acquisition of 50% of Hals-Invest Development, part of developer Hals Development, by Sapidus Holdings from System Apsys (French group Apsys). Sapidus, which is controlled by Hals Development's shareholders, already owned 50% in Hals-Invest Development, and consequently, after finalisation of the deal, Hals will become the sole owner of the Leto retail centre in St. Petersburg.

Leto was opened in January 2011 and became the first and only retail project to be operated by a joint venture created in 2008 between Hals Development and Apsys to develop retail centres in Russia. The joint venture ceased to exist as a result of Leto’s share acquisition from the Apsys Group.

As Russian Construction Review previously reported, Hals Development was founded in 1994 and until mid-2011 it held the name Sistema-Hals. It is owned by VTB Bank (51.24%) and Sistema financial fund (27.6%). In H1 2011 the company registered RUB 128.8m (€3.2m) revenue, with RUB 372.3m (€9.3m) loss and a RUB 84.7bn (€2.1bn) debt.