Louis Dreyfus moves closer to selling its Russian assets

Investment company Horizon Industries plans to acquire the Russian assets of global grain trader Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC). According to market estimates, the deal could be valued at just RUB 1–3 billion, although the assets were previously worth tens of billions of rubles.

According to reports, Horizon Industries’ subsidiary Temirtek signed preliminary agreements on May 25 to acquire LDC’s Russian businesses. The proposed transaction includes Volgograd Elevator, Louis Dreyfus Vostok, and Russian Elevator Company (RusElCo).

Before exiting the Russian market, Louis Dreyfus owned 12 grain elevators and a grain terminal at the Port of Azov. RusElCo operates grain elevators in the Stavropol Territory and the Voronezh, Rostov, and Volgograd regions, with a combined storage capacity of around 2 mln tons.

Analysts believe the acquisition could be intended for a future resale or carried out on behalf of a major Russian businessman. According to Russian media reports, the buyer is linked to businessman Iskandar Makhmudov, who is associated with the Prostory agricultural holding, although the company’s ultimate owners have not been officially disclosed.

Louis Dreyfus announced its withdrawal from Russia in 2023 and stopped exporting Russian grain on July 1 of that year. The sale of assets by foreign companies in Russia requires approval from the government commission overseeing foreign investments, as well as authorization from the Russian president. In November 2024, Vladimir Putin signed a decree allowing the sale of a 100% stake in RusElCo, although the completion of the transaction has not been officially announced.