Kitchen Interest: Two major retailers are vying for regional expansion

X5 and Lenta are showing interest in buying a large Gulliver chain, whose stores are located in the Ulyanovsk and Saratov regions, Izvestia has learned. Experts estimate the value of assets at 3.5–6 billion rubles. The interest is explained by the fact that the regional retailer has two of its own kitchen factories. In addition, the declining profitability of small players forces them to sell businesses to larger companies: according to Infoline, the profitability of the top 10 retail chains in 2024 was 2.3%, and in 2025 decreased to 1.7%. About how the consumer goods market is consolidating, see the Izvestia article.

Who is interested in purchasing

The X5 groups (Pyaterochka, Perekrestok, Chizhik chains) and Lenta (Lenta, Monetka, and Smile of the Rainbow hypermarkets) are bidding to buy Gulliver retail chain, four sources familiar with the companies' plans told Izvestia. According to one of them, X5 sent a Non-Binding Offer (NBO) to the seller some time ago, suggesting a subsequent agreement on the terms of the transaction. This information was confirmed by an editorial source close to the group.

At the same time, he clarified that the company had an initial interest in the asset, but at the moment the retailer is not negotiating. However, the owner of Pyaterochka can return to the deal under "certain conditions," the source said. Izvestia sent a request to X5 for an official comment.

The interlocutors did not specify whether a non-binding proposal had been received from Lenta. A company representative declined to comment. According to two sources, the retailer has just started exploring the asset and remains the only active bidder at the moment.

Gulliver did not respond to the request.

The network was founded in Ulyanovsk in 2002. To date, it has 100 convenience stores in the Ulyanovsk and Saratov regions with a total area of 65.1 thousand square meters, as indicated on the company's website. The owners are not disclosed. According to SPARK-Interfax, at the beginning of 2014, 100% of the company's shares belonged to an unnamed Russian citizen. By the end of 2024, Gulliver's revenue amounted to 20.3 billion rubles, net profit - 40.9 million rubles, which is 2.1% higher than in 2023, according to RAS reports.

By the end of 2025, the retailer showed higher dynamics than in the supermarket format as a whole: revenue increased by 7.1% to 21.4 billion rubles (excluding VAT), said Mikhail Burmistrov, CEO of Infoline Analytics.

According to him, the cost of the operating business of the network, taking into account the insignificant debt, can reach up to 6 billion rubles. According to investment banker Ilya Shumov, the deal price is 3.5—4 billion rubles, and Ilya Bereznyuk, managing partner of Agro&Food Communications, estimated the amount at 3-4 billion rubles.

Kommersant's sources reported in January that the owners had put the network up for sale: the company was sending offers to potential buyers, one of the interlocutors of the publication said.

What is this business known for?

Gulliver's portfolio, in addition to the stores of the same name, is also represented by the Pobeda discounter chain (674 stores in 31 regions of the country) and Narodny Ambar stores in Crimea (34 locations). They were not included in the perimeter of the deal, said a top manager of a large retail chain familiar with the proposal of the group's owners. At the same time, it is possible that in the future the beneficiaries of the Ulyanovsk retailer may sell off their other discounters, he believes.

According to the results of the first nine months of 2025 (the latest available data), the group's revenue amounted to 119.3 billion rubles, an increase of 26.8% compared to the same period a year earlier, according to Infoline data. They specify that according to this indicator, it took the 14th place in the ranking of the largest FMCG retailers (consumer goods), ahead of the Verny and Globus retail chains.

The interest of major players in this network is also due to the presence of two own kitchen factories in Ulyanovsk and Balakovo (Saratov region), Mikhail Burmistrov believes. The company produces ready meals, pastries and confectionery products at these sites. The availability of such facilities is of "critical importance" in the context of the explosive growth of the ready-to-eat category on the market, Ilya Bereznyuk noted. By the end of 2025, ready-made food has become the fastest growing segment among all categories of consumer goods. Sales of these products from retailers increased by 24.4% year—on-year in packages and by 27.5% in money, Nielsen calculated.

Now, according to Mikhail Burmistrov, favorable conditions have developed for the sale of the business. Federal retailers are actively competing for assets with a significant market share and an attractive portfolio of locations in the regions. Gulliver is the largest local player in the Ulyanovsk Region market, with an 11% share in the local retail market, Infoline analysts estimate.

Large retailers are taking over the market

The sale of the retail chain reflects the general trend of consolidation of the FMCG market by major players, Ilya Bereznyuk noted. From 2020 to 2025, the share of the top 5 retailers in this segment increased from 33% to 40%, according to Sovcombank research. This trend continues today, Ilya Shumov added.

In 2025, several major transactions took place on the market: Magnit acquired the premium network ABC of Taste, X5 consolidated 100% of shares in the Siberian chains Krasny Yar, Baton, Slata and Khlebsol (70% purchase took place in 2022), and Lenta bought out the controlling stake in the Far Eastern Remy network, the expert listed. Lenta may also buy out hypermarkets of the OK chain, Izvestia wrote.

According to Ilya Shumov, buying competitors allows for faster market share expansion than organic growth, which is why industry leaders are actively interested in regional networks for M&A transactions.

The consolidation of the market is also associated with falling margins and increased economic pressure on regional networks, Ilya Bereznyuk explained. Regional players are more difficult to compete with federal networks because of the "economies of scale," Ilya Shumov added. According to Infoline, the average profitability of the top 10 retail chains in 2024 was 2.3%, with a forecast for 2025 of 1.7%. Ilya Bereznyuk predicts that the share of major players in the market will continue to grow in the next two to three years.