LNTR.L Regulatory News (LNTR)

Steven Hellman to join Board of Directors of Lenta Ltd. as a non-executive director

St. Petersburg, Russia; 30th November, 2017 - Lenta, (LSE, MOEX: LNTA) one of the largest retail chains in Russia, is pleased to announce that Steven Hellman has been appointed as a non-executive Director of Lenta Ltd. with effect from 1st December, 2017.

Steven Hellman is the former Regional Chief Executive Officer of Credit Suisse for Russia and the CIS, a position he held from 2010 to 2016, during which period he advised Lenta in connection with its initial public offering and other corporate finance and strategic matters. From 2007 to 2010, Steven was Managing Director and head of Client Coverage for Credit Suisse Moscow. In a career spanning more than 25 years, he has worked with various global organizations as a business manager and as an investment banking and legal services professional in the United States, the United Kingdom and Russia/CIS across a broad range of industries, including food retail.

Steven has served on the boards of numerous Russian companies and is currently a director of FESCO Transportation Group and of TransContainer PJSC. 

He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Soviet Studies (1986) and a Juris Doctor degree (1989).

Steven Hellman will serve as one of three nominees of TPG on the Board of Directors, taking the place of Stephen Peel, who is resigning from the Board to launch a new private equity fund. Stephen Peel has served as a non-executive Director of Lenta Ltd. since 2011.

Lenta's Chairman, John Oliver, commented:

"I am delighted that Steven Hellman has agreed to join the Lenta Board. The Company will benefit from his extensive Russian and international experience across diverse industries. He has been involved with Lenta since before the Company's IPO, so he already knows the company and Russian food retail sector well.

On behalf of the Board I would also like to thank Stephen Peel for his contribution to Lenta's development over the course of his 6-year tenure. We wish him success in his new endeavour."

About Lenta

Lenta is the largest hypermarket chain in Russia and the country's fourth largest retail chain. The Company was founded in 1993 in St. Petersburg. Lenta operates 217 hypermarkets in 79 cities across Russia and 77 supermarkets in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg and the Central region with a total of approximately 1,298,457 sq.m of selling space. The average Lenta hypermarket store has selling space of approximately 5,700 sq.m. The average Lenta supermarket store has selling space of approximately 900 sq.m. The Company operates seven owned 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 40,400 people as of 30 June 2017[1].

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'.

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: