St-Petersburg, Russia; 5 December, 2014– Lenta, (LSE, MOEX: LNTA) one of the largest retail chains in Russia, is pleased to announce it has signed a RUB11.5 billion five-year unsecured credit facility with ZAO UniCredit Bank.

The credit facility is available for drawdown over one year and matures in December 2019. The Company intends to draw on the proceeds to finance Lenta’s on-going investment program.

Lenta’s Chief Financial Officer, Jago Lemmens said:

“This new credit facility offered by UniCredit Bank – one of the leading international banks- provides additional flexibility and security as we seek to deliver on our plans to double net selling space over the three years to December 2016. Cash generated by our operations and rapidly growing net selling space contributes significantly to our growth plans and we are making excellent progress in building our new site pipeline.”

Kirill Zhukov-Emelyanov, Member of the Management Board of UniCredit Bank said:

“UniCredit Bank always keeps its loan portfolio well diversified and works with leading companies of different industries. We are glad to start our collaboration with one of the largest retail chains in Russia and participate in the successful development of the company.”

About Lenta

Lenta is one of the largest retail chains in Russia and the country’s second largest hypermarket chain (in terms of 2013 sales). The Company was founded in 1993 in St. Petersburg. Lenta operates 93 hypermarkets in 53 cities across Russia and 19 supermarkets in Moscow and the Moscow region, with a total of approximately 601,949 sq.m of selling space. The average Lenta hypermarket store has selling space of 6,300 sq.m. The Company operates four hypermarket distribution centres.

The Company’s price-led hypermarket formats are differentiated in terms of their promotion and pricing strategies as well as their local product assortment. The Company employed approximately 27,800 people as of 31 December 2013.

The Company’s management team combines a mix of local knowledge and international expertise coupled with extensive operational experience in Russia. Lenta’s largest shareholders include TPG Capital, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and VTB Capital Private Equity, all of whom are committed to maintaining high standards of corporate governance. Lenta is listed on the London Stock Exchange and on the Moscow Exchange and trades under the ticker: ‘LNTA’.

A brief video summary on Lenta’s business and its big data initiative can be seen here.

For further information please visit www.lentainvestor.com, or contact:

Lenta
Anna Meleshina,
Public Relations & Government Affairs Director
Tel: +7 812 363 28 53
E-mail: anna.meleshina@lenta.com

Yana Mogileva, PR Manager
Òel:+7 (812) 336 39 97
E-mail: yana.mogileva@lenta.com

Instinctif Partners
International Media:
Mark Walter and Tony Friend
Òel:+44 (0)20 7457 2020
E-mail: Mark.Walter@instinctif.com

Russian Media:
Anton Karpov
Òel:+7 495 660 05 91
E-mail: Anton.Karpov@instinctif.com

About UniCredit Bank

UniCredit Bank is a Russian commercial bank, operating in Russia since 1989. Ranked 9th by total assets based on the third quarter of 2014 results (Interfax-100 ranking), UniCredit Bank is the largest foreign bank in Russia. UniCredit Bank is fully owned (100%) by UniCredit Bank Austria AG, Vienna, Austria, member of UniCredit. The Bank benefits from its strong position in the large Russian corporate finance market and sustainable retail banking business. UniCredit Bank operates under General Banking License ¹1 of Central Bank of the Russian Federation.

UniCredit is a leading European commercial bank with strong roots in 17 countries. Our overall global network embraces approximately 50 markets with nearly 7,750 branches and more than 130,000 employees (as of 30 June 2014).

In the CEE Region, UniCredit runs the largest and most diversified international banking network with approximately 2,500 branches (Poland included).
The Group operates in Austria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey and Ukraine. In the Baltics, UniCredit is present through its Leasing subsidiary (as of 30 June 2014).

Additional information

Press service of UniCredit Bank

Elena Kurepina
Elena.Kurepina@unicredit.ru
+7 (495) 258-7258, ext. 6170
+7 903 591-7366

Olga Kuleshova
Olga.Kuleshova@unicredit.ru,
+7 (495) 258-7258, ext. 6246
+7 963 655-4064