Cleary Gottlieb represented Lenta PLC (Lenta) in its redomiciliation from Cyprus to the Russian Federation, thus becoming International Public Joint Stock Company Lenta, which was declared effective on February 17, 2021.
Lenta becomes one of a handful of public companies to avail itself of recent Russian legislation enabling foreign companies to migrate to one of two special administrative regions, in Lenta’s case being the one in Kaliningrad. Under this regime, Lenta will continue to apply foreign law (in its case, Cyprus law) to its shareholder relations and corporate governance, as set out in its new corporate charter, until 2029.
By virtue of the redomiciliation, Lenta is aligning its home jurisdiction to its predominantly Russian shareholder basis, expects to improve administrative efficiencies, and looks to achieve a simplified and more reliable tax structure.
Lenta’s GDRs have continued to trade seamlessly on the London Stock Exchange. Lenta’s GDRs also trade on the Moscow Stock Exchange, but in conjunction with the redomiciliation Lenta has announced it will transition to the trading of its ordinary shares in Moscow.
Lenta is Russia’s leading retail hypermarket business.