MOSCOW: X5 Group, a leading Russian food retailer, announced an agreement to acquire Forward-Market, a distributor operating in the Republic of Bashkortostan. The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) of the Russian Federation has approved the deal.

As part of the deal, X5 will take over the ownership of distribution centres measuring a total of 28,000 square metres and a fleet of 47 vehicles.

Igor Pletnev, Director of the X5 For Business project, commented: “Forward-Market is a successful regional distributor with an extensive track record and expertise in supplying small batches of products to small-format stores. This expertise will help build out the Okolo direct franchise concept currently being piloted by X5.”

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