LNTA.L Regulatory News (LNTA)

LENTA ANNOUNCES INTENTION TO ISSUE BONDS TOTALLING RUB 5 BLN

St-Petersburg, Russia; 1 September 2015 - Lenta, (LSE, MOEX: LNTA), one of the largest retail chains in Russia, today announces its intention to launch an offering of RUB 5 billion of BO-06 series bonds (the "Bonds").

The bonds will have a 36-month put option from placement and a maturity of 10 years with a nominal value of RUB 1,000 each.

It is anticipated that order books will be opened on 8 September 2015, with a closing date of 8 September 2015.

It is expected that Lenta's BO-06 series bonds will be placed on the MICEX and settled on 10 September, 2015.

Proceeds raised from the bond issue will provide Lenta with additional financial flexibility to accelerate its store opening programme in 2016 and beyond.

VTB Bank and AO Raiffeisenbank will act as arrangers of the deal.

About Lenta

Lenta is one of the largest retail chains in Russia and the country's second largest hypermarket chain (in terms of 2014 sales). The Company was founded in 1993 in St. Petersburg. Lenta operates 120 hypermarkets in 631 cities across Russia and 27 supermarkets in Moscow, with a total of approximately 777,182 sq.m of selling space. The average Lenta hypermarket store has selling space of approximately 6,200 sq.m. The Company operates five owned 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 35,655 people as of 30 June 2014.2

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 and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, both of which 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'.

[1] Lenta has changed methodology for calculating number of cities of presence and since 1 May 2015 all cities located in Moscow City and the Moscow region are shown as Moscow.

[2] FTE (full-time equivalent). Average FTE for 1 H 2015 was 30,267 employees. 

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: