Anti-trust watchdog greenlights Dnipro Hotel acquisition deal

The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) says it has allowed LLC Smartland, the winner of the auction held on July 15, to buy Kyiv-based Dnipro Hotel.

"Having considered the relevant application, the AMCU identified no threats from the declared concentration [of assets] to the competition on the commodity markets of Ukraine and established no grounds for prohibition," the AMCU's press service said on its website on September 10.

In particular, the AMCU found that said concentration has no effect on competition on the hotel services market as the buyer does not operate on such market (Smartland is engaged in operations on the commercial real estate rental market). At the same time, Dnipro Hotel's share on the market of hotel services in Kyiv is also insignificant.

Read alsoBuyer of Kyiv's Dnipro Hotel vetted by Ukraine's State Property FundThe Committee added that the concentration would be financed by loans provided by banking institutions.

Dnipro Hotel bidding: background

• On July 15, the State Property Fund held an auction to sell Dnipro Hotel, one of the Kyiv center's highlights. It was sold to Smartland LLC for UAH 1.111 billion (US$39.5 million).
• Other bidders were high-profile local and foreign businessmen, namely Stepan Chernovetskyi, Tomas Fiala, Vadym Novinsky, Serhiy Tigipko, and others.
• Later it turned out that the hotel was acquired by Oleksandr Kokhanovsky, founder of the Natus Vincere (NAVI) e-Sports team, along with his partners.
• They plan is to use the hotel for a large-scale e-sports venue. New owners plan to invest about US$20 million in reconstruction and are already negotiating with a "major foreign design bureau."
• Kokhanovsky says the hotel will not be transferred into a gambling business and that the investors have no connections to Russia.