Evgeny Zelensky, Orion Partner, has shared his professional opinion with Kommersant.

Kommersant has been taking a close look at current M&A trends in Russia. Although still significant in terms of transaction prices, deals involving foreign companies pulling out of Russian assets are becoming less frequent, accounting on average for 25–30% of all M&A deals over the past 12 months.

“Foreign companies sold assets at heavily discounted prices and with minimal reps and warranties”, Evgeny notes.

Yet the number of asset sales between Russian parties remains high, with many companies striving to close deals by the end of December, partly owing to the upcoming tax changes in 2025.

“The current buyer's market has a detrimental effect on asset valuation and results in significant discrepancies between seller and investor price expectations”, says Evgeny.

Evgeny Zelensky offered his thoughts on current M&A trends in Russia and discussed the factors affecting the M&A outlook.

Click the link to read the full article in Russian.