X5, Russia's biggest food retailer by sales, said it had reached an agreement to buy rival Kopeika, with sources close to the deal saying it was worth 51.5 billion roubles ($1.65 billion). X5 Chief Executive Officer Lev Khasis would not comment on the size on the deal for Kopeika, which is Russia's sixth largest retailer by sales.
X5, just under 50 percent owned by billionaire Mikhail Fridman's Alfa Group, has been in buy-out talks with Kopeika for months, and in July, Russia's anti-monopoly regulator gave it the go-ahead to acquire Kopeika.
During Reuters summit in September, Khasis said the Kopeika purchase would be financed with cash and debt and involve no equity component. Kopeika is owned by Nikolai Tsvetkov - also the beneficial owner of Uralsib bank. Sources had told Reuters that Kopeika, which has 591 stores including 33 franchises, had valued itself at between $1.6 billion and $1.8 billion.