Hyundai Motor signs sale agreement for Russian factory...with buyback conditions

Interfax News reported on the 26th (local time) that Hyundai Motors has signed a contract to sell its Russian factory to Russian company Art Finance.
According to the report, Russia's AGR Automotive Group has announced that Art Finance will own the Hyundai Motor Company, including the Hyundai Motor Plant in St. Petersburg.
The company announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of the automobile company. AGR Automotive Group is the new name of the Volkswagen Russian entity that Art Finance acquired last year.
Prior to this, Hyundai Motor held an extraordinary board meeting on the 19th of last month and decided to sell its stake in the Russian factory to Art Finance for 10,000 rubles (approximately 16,000 yen).
approved. This is because operations at the Russian factory have been suspended since March 2022 due to the aftermath of the Russia-Ukraine war.
However, Hyundai Motor can buy back the factory within two years of sale.
A buyback (call option) condition was added. Before the outbreak of war, the Russian market was so popular that Hyundai and Kia Motors boasted the No. 1 market share, so it would be difficult to let go of it easily.
It has been evaluated as being. Hyundai completed its St. Petersburg factory in 2010 and set out to capture the Russian market, but after the factory stopped operating, it ended up turning to art finance.
It was decided to sell the factory and withdraw from the Russian market.