The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) has allowed Kyiv-based Ridne Group of Companies LLC to acquire control over Chernihiv Eco Plus LLC, which is part of the structure of agro-industrial holding Astarta-Kyiv. The relevant decision was published on the regulator’s website.
According to the AMCU, approval was granted for the acquisition of control over the agricultural enterprise Chernihiv Eco Plus, registered in the village of Andriivka, Chernihiv Region.
According to YouControl, Chernihiv Eco Plus LLC is owned by Viktor Ivanchyk, founder and CEO of agro-industrial holding Astarta-Kyiv. Thus, the transaction is part of the process of optimizing the land bank and asset structure of one of Ukraine’s largest agricultural holdings.
The buyer is Ridne Group of Companies LLC, which is part of the Ukrainian Ridne consortium. The ultimate beneficial owners of the company are Serhii Kovalchuk and Oleksii Khvorostianyi.
Ridne consortium operates in Ukraine’s food industry and agribusiness market, bringing together enterprises specializing in food production and the development of the agricultural segment. The group has been consistently expanding its presence in the agricultural sector by investing in production facilities and agricultural assets.
Astarta-Kyiv, in turn, is one of Ukraine’s largest vertically integrated agro-industrial holdings and a public company whose shares are listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. The group’s main areas of activity include crop production, sugar production, soybean processing, dairy farming and biogas production.
The company cultivates around 220,000–250,000 ha of agricultural land in several regions of Ukraine and is among the country’s largest sugar producers. In recent years, Astarta has been actively investing in projects for deep processing of agricultural raw materials, energy efficiency and the development of export-oriented production. In particular, under the state support program for projects with significant investments, the company is implementing a project to build a soybean deep processing plant in Poltava Region.
The financial terms of the transaction for the sale of Chernihiv Eco Plus LLC have not been disclosed by the parties. Following AMCU approval, the parties will be able to complete the transaction in accordance with Ukrainian legislation.
