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British American Tobacco said on Thursday it had reached a deal to sell its Russian and Belarusian businesses within the next month or so.
The maker of Camel and Peter Stuyvesant didn't provide a figure for the sale, and had announced its intention to exit the market in March 2022. This follows a wave of disinvestment from Western companies in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
READ | No more smoking guns: British American Tobacco officially pulls out of Russia
Post completion, the businesses will be known as the ITMS group, BAT said, adding that once conditions had been satisfied it will no longer have a presence in Russia or Belarus. The buyer is a consortium led by members of BAT Russia’s management team which, upon completion, will wholly own both businesses.
BAT’s operations in Russia include a head office in Moscow, 75 regional offices and a manufacturing facility in St Petersburg, the group said. It also has an office in Belarus. As of the end of June the two countries accounted for about 2.7% of group revenue and 2.5% of adjusted profit from operations. BAT, headquartered in London, is the second-largest tobacco company in the world and held almost a quarter of the Russian market.
