"Rolf" became a co-owner of a Czech car dealer

The Rolf group of Sergei Petrov received 5% in the Russian business of AAA Auto Group, the largest seller of used cars in Eastern Europe. AAA will help Rolf sell cars under the trade-in scheme to test the local market.

Rolf acquired a 5 percent stake in AAA Auto LLC, the Russian subsidiary of AAA Auto Group NV, the parties announced yesterday. “The deal will mark the beginning... of a test stage of cooperation between two large operators for the sale and purchase of used cars - AAA and Rolf, represented by the BlueFish division,” the release says.

AAA needs expertise in the Russian market, while Rolf wants to increase the share of trade in sales (exchanging an old car for a new one), explains Rolf representative Maria Zaikina. The share of trade in at Rolf is 10-20% depending on the center, at AAA it is more than 30%. The purchase of 5% in AAA’s Russian business was needed “for ease of management,” she says. The amount of the transaction was “insignificant,” a source at Rolf clarified.

The “test” will last until January 2012 at the Rolf Khimki dealership center: AAA representatives will work with the center’s clients together with Rolf sales and purchasing specialists. The parties do not comment on what cooperation between the companies might look like after January. AAA does not have an option to buy back 5%, clarified AAA Public and Investor Relations Manager Dana Pavlushkova.

AAA Auto Group NV operates a network of 27 used car fleets. Works in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary. In 2010, it sold 39.53 thousand cars, revenue amounted to €205 million ($272 million). Capitalization on the Prague Stock Exchange yesterday was $65.5 million.

The Rolf group, founded by Sergei Petrov, includes the Rolf retail chain (28 centers; dealer of Audi, Ford, Hyundai, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, etc.), the BlueFish project (used car sales), the logistics operator Rolf SCS, Bank "Capital Moscow" and others. Revenue in 2010 - 74.65 billion rubles. ($2.46 billion; second place among car dealers in Russia), 42.362 thousand new cars were sold.

AAA had been planning to enter the Russian market for several years (its subsidiary, AAA Auto LLC, was registered in November 2007), but due to the crisis, it decided to enter only now. AAA's website says the first center in Russia will open in the fourth quarter of this year with an initial inventory of 300-400 vehicles, with the prospect of expanding to 1,000 cars and 200 vans/pick-ups by 2012. The center is preparing to open in Shcherbinka near Moscow, reports one of the market participants. In 2012-2013, AAA plans to open new centers in St. Petersburg and the regions - “the group’s goal is to be present in every Russian city with more than 2 million residents within five years.”

Currently, no more than 10% of used cars in Russia are sold through official dealers or specialized companies, the rest are sold directly from seller to buyer, notes a top manager of a dealer holding company. But the share of sales of used cars through dealers is growing, assured Yuri Sleptsov, general director of the Autospetscenter group: used cars account for about 20% of sales at his centers.

Kristina Busko, Evgeniy Khvostik

AAA has found a running partner