More than seven months after suspending its activities in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine, the Spanish clothing giant Inditex, owner of the brand Zara, the world leader in clothing, announced on Tuesday that it was preparing to sell its stores in this country.
“Inditex has reached a first agreement for the sale of its business in the Russian Federation to the Daher group, which has significant holdings in the distribution and real estate sectors,” the Spanish group said in a statement.
“The Daher group is Emirati and owner of the Dubai Mall”, one of the largest shopping centers in the United Arab Emirates, said a source familiar with the matter, adding that it “holds a stake in the Azadea group, the franchisee of Inditex in the Middle-East “.
Many employees are expected to keep their jobs
Such a “transaction will result in the cessation of Inditex’s operations in Russia after the suspension of its commercial activity on March 5”, Inditex explained in its press release. “The provisions recognized in the financial results for the first half of 2022 largely cover the impact” of this cessation of activity, added the group.
Inditex (acronym for Industria de diseño textil) also stresses that a “substantial part” of the group’s employees should keep their jobs, even if the future “points of sale” that will replace the Inditex stores will be completely different from the group’s brands. (Zara, Zara Home, Bershka, Oysho, Stradivarius, Pull&Bear, Massimo Duti). The Spanish group had 502 stores in Russia, including 86 Zara brands.
An open door if the context changes
If “new circumstances” were to arise and they opened the way for the Spanish group’s brands to return to the Russian market, Inditex and the Daher group are studying the possibility “of including in their agreement the possibility of collaboration by the through a franchise agreement,” according to the statement.
On March 5, Inditex announced that “given the current circumstances”, the group could not “guarantee the continuity of operations and commercial conditions” in Russia, a country which represented approximately 8.5% of its operating profit. .